Karnataka to offer ₹500 cr fuel subsidy to Promote Farm Mechanization

CM Bommai announces slew of measures to farm, allied sectors in State to encourage farm mechanisation and boost productivity, the Karnataka government plans to Subsidies diesel for farmers through a new scheme ‘Raitha Shakti’ with an outlay of Rs.500 crore.

Presenting the of FY 2022-23 Budget, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said , for the first time in the State, diesel subsidy at Rs. 250 per acre subject to maximum of five acres will be disbursed under direct benefit transfer under a new scheme “Raitha Shakti” for which Rs. 500 crore will be provided.” To make farm machineries available to small and marginal farmers the State also plans to extend the Krishi Yantradhare Centres.

CM Bommai also highlighted the various measures to strengthen the post harvest infrastructure and encourage value addition for farm produce. “Through Karnataka State Agricultural Produce Processing and Export Corporation (KAPPEC), common centres for Farmer Producer Organisations will be developed to take up post-harvest management marketing and export farm produce by formulating a scheme at a cost of Rs. 50 crore.

Marketing Opportunities With FPOs

The State has set up a Directorate of Secondary Agriculture, which will enable value addition to the primary agricultural produce and create more marketing opportunities with the help of FPOs.

A cold storage facility will be established on PPP model at Toravi village in Vijayapura district, a major grape cultivation bub, at a cost of Rs. 35 crore. The cold storage will be set up through the Karnataka Grape and Wine Board, Bommai said.

The State will also provide a grant of Rs. 35 crore under the National Mission on Edible oil to increase the oil palm cultivation by 25,000 hectares over the next five years. Besides, to encourage farmers to take up natural farming, the study of nitrogen fixation and bio-analytical techniques in natural farming will be taken up through agricultural and horticultural universities in an area of 1,000 acre each and will be extended to farmers’ lands, Bommai said.

Karnataka Stands On Third Position in Organic Production says, CM Bommai

Having brought 2 lakh hectares of farm land under organic farming, Karnataka stands third in organic production in the country. Bommai also said that action will be taken to implement Pradhana Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojane – Watershed Development component-2.0 with assistance from Central Government at a cost of Rs. 642 crore in 2.75 lakh hectares of rain fed area covering 57 taluks.

Also Karnataka proposes to brand the tur dal grown in Kalaburagi and Yadagiri districts, which has distinct geographical indication, under the brand name “Bhima Pulse.”

Further, it is proposed to set up a ‘Ksheera Samruddhi Sahakara Bank’ to facilitate the milk producers to get hassle free loans. A share capital of Rs. 100 crore will be provided by the State government and a total of Rs. 260 crore will be provided by the Milk Producers Co-operative Society, Karnataka Milk Federation and District Milk Unions for this purpose.

Also, Karnataka, which ranks first in silk production in the country, announced an incentive of Rs. 10,000 per tonne to silk farmers producing Bivoltine cocoon and selling the same in Government Silk Cocoon Market. A hi-tech Government Cocoon Market will be established in Kalaburagi and Haveri districts at a cost of Rs. 30 crore with the assistance from Nabard to provide modern marketing facilities to the silk growers in the State.

Bommai further said that in order to increase the income of silk farmers and silk produce, incentive given to Bivoltine cocoon will be increased by Rs. 50 per kg. Also an incentive will be given to the raw silk produced by silk reelers, he said.