Progressive farmer Puttaiah alias Kariyaiah from H.D. Kote taluk in Mysuru will inaugurate this year’s Dasara festivities.
Puttaiah, a Dalit farmer, owns 40 acres. He cultivates ragi, maize, oil seeds, apart from horticulture crops such as coconut, banana, and chikko. He also cultivates sericulture and is engaged in dairying, poultry, sheep rearing and fisheries. He has installed a bio-gas plant using the waste generated from agriculture and allied activities.
The farmer is growing crops in an organic way.
Mr. Puttaiah has been the president of the H.D. Kote Horticulture Cooperative Society for the last 10 years and has won the Sreshta Krishika award for 2014-15.
Mr. Puttaiah’s is a joint family having more than 40 members. He and his five brothers are living together with their children. Though eight members of the family have successfully completed graduation in different disciplines, none of them had sought jobs in government or in private companies and all of them are engaged in agriculture and allied activities.
Mr. Puttaiah will inaugurate the Dasara on October 13 atop the Chamundi Hills.
He told The Hindu that he would broach the farmers’ problems with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on the day of inauguration or subsequent days. He would appeal to the Chief Minister to take steps to ensure better prices for crops. Mr. Puttaiah said that he would draw the attention of the Chief Minister over the low minimum support price for crops, as it did not meet the farmers’ input costs.
