Krishna Byre Gowda, Minister for Agriculture, said on Tuesday that he had directed officials to design a special package to help paddy farmers in Udupi district.
Addressing presspersons after a review meeting here, Mr. Krishna Byre Gowda said that if the package became a success here, it would be extended to other districts.
Paddy, the chief agricultural crop of the district, was being grown in 45,000 hectares of land.
To help paddy farmers, quality seeds would be provided to them. The department would also help them improve the existing varieties of paddy.
As there was labour problem in paddy cultivation, farmers would be encouraged to follow the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) and Direct-Seeded Rice (DSR) methods of rice cultivation. Fertilizers such as lime, gypsum and zinc would also be given to farmers. “We want to take up a campaign to popularise paddy cultivation,” he said.
There was a need to introduce more mechanisation in agriculture. If more agricultural equipment such as tillers, harvesters and others were required, they could be made available to individuals and self-help groups. These equipment would get subsidy from the Agriculture Department and financial help from the Watershed Development Department.
The State government had entered into agreement with the Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project (SKDRDP) to set up farm machinery custom hire service centres to provide agricultural equipment on rent to small farmers.
