Karnataka Government sets up Agriculture Mission to provide information at farmers’ doorstep

Karnataka government has now set up an Agriculture Mission to reduce the gap between the government departments and the farmers by providing information at their doorstep. Although the initiative was started in 2015 to help farmers get all the information at their doorstep, without having to visit the department, the government would be now further strengthening this programme.
This year, the departments of horticulture, animal husbandry, fisheries, sericulture and cooperative are also part of the programme. The representatives from the related departments of agriculture will now need to go to the farmlands and have a first-hand understanding on the problems of the growers. The universities of horticulture and agriculture will also be part of the programme.
As part of the mission, beginning from this month and spanning for the next 30 days, the department of agriculture along with officials from the related departments would visit villages to meet farmers and offer them with the information to get better yields, according to Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah. He revealed the information at the recently-held official launch of the Agriculture Mission initiative.
The officials from the department of agriculture will conduct soil tests, educate farmers about using the right amount of fertilisers and pesticides, crop insurance and other issues related to farming. The department will also facilitate interaction among farmers so that progressive farmers can share their experiences with others. “Farmers come to the department mostly to know more about the inputs. Now we do not want them to come all the way from their villages and small towns.
Therefore, a decision was taken that our officials visit the agriculturists at their location to ascertain the queries and solve issues in a time-bound basis. The effort is to provide the much-needed information about existing soil texture and new implements would give fillip to the agriculture community,” said Karnataka agriculture minister Krishna Byregowda.