Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Mar 16: The monthly meeting of Karnataka Development Programme, held under the presidentship of the zilla panchayat president, K T Shylaja Bhat, at the zilla panchayat auditorium here on Tuesday March 15, decided to encourage paddy cultivation in the coast. The meeting noted with concern about the dwindling cultivation of paddy here for various reasons, apprehending that the situation might create shortage of staple food in due course.

The meeting decided to recommend to the government to frame policies aimed at encouraging paddy cultivation in the state. Joint director in the department of horticulture, Padmayya Naik, drew the attention of the concerned to the fact that the paddy fields were increasingly being diverted for horticultural and non-agricultural activities. S D Sampat Samrajya, president of the District Krishik Samaj, supported his views.

Zilla panchayat chief executive officer, P Shivashankar, said that in Kerala, a workforce for paddy crops has functioning to help those who find it hard to cultivate their land for want of agricultural labourers etc. He said the same pattern can be recommended for implementation in Karnataka too. The other steps discussed on the issue were the necessity of introducing agriculture-related lessons in the syllabus, making it compulsory for arranging the visits of the children to the farms of progressive farmers under Sarva Shikshana Abhiyan etc.