BELAGAVI: Even as the government claims it is committed to making agriculture sustainable and lucrative while announcing a series of initiatives and schemes for the sector, farmers are hugely upset with the government’s inability to meet their aspirations. Several farmers feel the budget is not at all in sync with their lives.
“So far, a budget which is aimed at strengthening the financial condition of farmers has not been presented by the state government. Why would farmers commit suicide if the government is implementing pro-farmer policies effectively,’’ said farmer leader Kodihalli Chandrashekhar.
In the 2024-25 budget, the government stated that an Agriculture Development Authority will be created under the CM’s chairmanship to facilitate effective implementation of policies related to agriculture and allied activities.
The Authority will work towards achieving better coordination between the Department of Agriculture, Horticulture, Sericulture, Fisheries, Cooperation and Animal Husbandry.
On the contrary, several farmers sought to know from the Chief Minister as to why farmers were unable to get effective crop compensation and were dying by suicide if the budget was encouraging farmers to produce high yield.
If farmers were producing high quantities of crops, why were their lives not improving, farmers feel, adding that they were in debt and were not getting a suitable price for their produce.
“All the big announcements in the budget for the agriculture sector never helped farmers. In 2023, the state government demanded a Rs 36,000 crore fund from the Centre to pay compensation for crop loss in the state. Later, the Centre released only Rs 3,400 crore.
The state government eventually released a measly compensation to farmers who suffered huge crop losses,’’ said Chandrashekhar.
Farmer Sidagouda Modagi, president of Krishik Samaj, said the government had been unable to set aside funds for agricultural schemes and initiatives due to the impact of the five guarantee schemes. He said the schemes had adversely impacted pro-farmer schemes, and that the government was not coming up with policies demanded by farmers.