956 farmers committed suicide in past three years, says Karnataka Govt

Farmer Bore Gowda participating with IT professionals at a Candle Light Vigil to protest against farmers sucide in the State at Town Hall in Bangalore. A file photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

As many as 956 farmers committed suicide in Karnataka in the past 44 months, the Government informed the Legislative Council on Tuesday.

“It has been reported that during the last three years (2008—09, 2009—10, 2010—11 and 2011—12 (up to 30.11.2011) 956 farmers have committed suicide”, Agriculture Minister Umesh V Katti told Veeranna Mathikatti (Congress) in reply to an unstarred question.

He said the Government has implemented several initiatives to ensure that farmers got proper prices for their produce and regular income.

These include minimum support price, as declared by Government of India and additional support by the State government, availability of credit at one per cent interest and subsidies for inputs like fertilisers, seeds, pesticides, implements and micro irrigation.

In addition, the Government has taken up new initiatives like “Bhoochetana” and “Suvarna Bhoomi Yojane” programmes, Mr. Katti added.

Besides, the Government is implementing the MNREGA scheme during the off-seasons for employment purpose, the Minister said, adding regular monitoring and testing of fertilisers and seeds is done so that they are available to farmers at MRP and of good quality.