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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Karnataka farmers seek more support as loan waiver fails to impress -Indulekha Aravind

Karnataka farmers seek more support as loan waiver fails to impress -Indulekha Aravind

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published Published on Dec 29, 2017   modified Modified on Dec 29, 2017
-The Economic Times

MANDYA (KARNATAKA): Lingappa is unsure of what the future holds for his family. The 53-year-old coconut farmer in Mandya in southern Karnataka couldn't sow anything on his one-acre field this year because there was not enough water. The trees that should have been bearing fruit are stripped bare by disease. In the midst of all this, he has to find money for his younger daughter's wedding in March. "It will be a simple wedding but I still need Rs 4 lakh," he says, worried. He has already taken loans of close to Rs 2 lakh from banks and local lenders, to meet daily expenses and for his elder daughter's wedding that cost him about Rs 6 lakh.

In June, when the Siddaramaiah government announced a crop loan waiver of Rs 8,165 crore — Rs 50,000 per farmer — it was considered a political trump card that would help the Congress return to power when the state goes to polls next year. But that is not enough, say farmers. "Yes, Rs 50,000 has been waived. But what about the rest?" asks Lingappa.

Mandya, over 150 km from Bengaluru, is part of the "old Mysuru" region and is known for growing sugarcane and paddy (both water-intensive crops) as well as ragi, coconut and maize, but the last three years of drought have hit the region hard, like the rest of the state. This has also been a stronghold of former PM Deve Gowda's party, the Janata Dal (Secular), now helmed by his son HD Kumaraswamy.

Bitter Sugarcane

Mandya presents a paradox in that it is considered more fertile and prosperous than the northern districts and yet has been witness to a spate of farmer suicides over the past few years, reporting 118 deaths between July 2015 and June 2016, according to the state agriculture department. Nalli Krishna, a farmer who grows sugarcane and paddy and does sericulture, says they are reeling from drought. Even the rain this year came too late for the first round of sowing. "There are no other opportunities to work here. Landholding is also very fragmented so the income is limited," says Krishna, a member of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, a farmers' organisation. According to the agricultural census in 2011, 49% of farmers in the state are marginal farmers, with an average holding of an acre or less. "People want to send their children to private schools, so they take loans from private financiers. When farmers are unable to repay, banks will send notices and shame them, so they feel they have no option but to commit suicide. The government has to tell us how we can continue to have a livelihood," he says.

"If the government is serious, there should be a one-time settlement of all farmers' loans," says Lingappa. Another farmer in Mandya, Boraiah, who cultivates coconut, paddy and sugarcane in 14 acres, says it is the Centre that needs to pitch in and help with the loan waiver. "That's what was done in Uttar Pradesh. Otherwise, even farmers know that this Rs 50,000 waiver is an election gimmick," says Boraiah.

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The Economic Times, 24 December, 2017, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/agriculture/karnataka-farmers-seek-more-support-as-loan-waiver-fails-to-impress/articleshow/62224782.cms


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