The BJP Raitha Morcha activists staged a demonstration here on Saturday to register their protest against the alleged escalation in the price of agricultural inputs like seeds.
The demonstration was staged in front of the office of the Joint Director of Agriculture and Mirle Srinivas Gowda, president of the morcha, said that though there are traces of good monsoon which will benefit the farmers, the government has increased the price of seeds by 60 per cent to 70 per cent.
The morcha activists said that the farmers were reeling under financial distress due to monsoon failure last year and the resultant drought and increase in price of seeds amounted to adding salt to their injuries.
They also expressed concern that farmers with small land holdings may find the prices unaffordable. Similarly, farmers with large landholdings will also be affected as the cost of procuring seeds to cover their swathe of land would increase the cultivation cost, according to morcha activists who said that there could also be a drastic reduction of area undersowing. ‘’What is disconcerting is that the State government has declared a drought across the State and yet there is no control in the escalation of seed prices,” said Mr. Srinivas Gowda.
The morcha activists called upon the government to ensure that seeds were made available to the farmers at a subsidised rate to facilitate sowing.
Published - June 01, 2024 07:28 pm IST
