From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Oct 30: "Agriculture is in doldrums," said Karnataka Legislative Assembly Speaker KagoduThimmappa, and pointed out that the State Government’s measures in the form of tokenism to revive farming will not succeed.
Releasing a documentary, "When death strides the fields,” brought out by two senior journalists in Bengaluru on Friday, the Speaker said farmers have not been receiving remunerative prices for their produce owing to lack clear-cut agriculture policy at the national level.
He said agriculture in the country was beset with deep rooted problems.
“Tokenism will not improve agriculture. The farm sector has to be strengthened. A national thinking is needed,” he said.
The documentary is produced and directed by senior journalists Maya Jaideep and KesturVasuki, who travelled with a team of senior colleagues to the suicide-hit districts of Mandya, Tumakuru, Chitradurga, Davangere, Bagalakote, Belagavi, Ramanagaram, Mysuru and Chamarajanagara.
“Farmers are in a helpless state owing to denial of scientific and fair price for their produce," he said.
The Speaker said: “There should be a system that ensures fair price to farmers but it is not easy.”
He regretted the recent changes in the Karnataka Land Reforms (Amendment) Act, 2015.
It increased the income limit for non-agricultural sources to purchase farmland from Rs. 2 lakh to Rs. 25 lakh, he said.
He felt elected representatives were not debating enough on the plight of farmers on the floor of legislature or in parliament.
Veteran journalist Sathyanarayana and Karnataka Media Academy Chairman M APonnappa were present.
With nearly 550 farmers taking their lives in the past six months in the state, the documentary, both in Kannada and English, brings the agrarian crisis into sharp focus.
Interviews with experts, farmers, activists and thinkers form major part of the 28-minute documentary.
The documentary also highlights the Gandhian way and the need to promote organic farming to save the farmers from the agrarian crisis.