With more than 150 farmers’ suicide cases being reported every day from across Karnataka in the past four months, the BJP on Wednesday highlighted the State Government’s failure to tackle problems in the farm sector and said indebtedness, irregular power supply, failure of borewells and erratic monsoon are major reasons for farmers’ suicides in the State.
The BJP teams headed by legislators visited three districts - Mysuru, Chamarajanagar, and Mandya - during the last few days and found that the government’s decision to stop subsidy for drip irrigation, borrowings from moneylenders at high rate of interest by farmers and crop failure were other reasons for the farmers’ financial distress.
BJP MLA C.T. Ravi told presspersons here on Wednesday that more than 200 farmers had committed suicide in the State. He urged the government to waive crop loans of farmers across the State.
Last week, the Kisan-Khet Mazdoor Congress conducted a survey and found that farmers committed suicide owing to non-transfer of land records, failure of borewells and crops and borrowing of loans at high interest rate from moneylenders.
Farmers also incurred financial loss owing to middlemen’s role in agriculture produce marketing committees (APMCs), non-availability of reasonable prices for commodities, seizure of trucks by bankers, and destruction crops by wild animals, the BJP said.
The report, which would be submitted to Government, recommended establishment of markets near the national highways and purchase of commodities from farmers directly to canteens of government companies, hospitals. It also asked the Government to direct Central Food Technologies Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysuru, to suggest alternative vegetable crops to farmers.