‘Drone’ to be used to survey crops: Minister Shivashankar Reddy
Govt to encourage growing of ‘Aane Bidiru’ (Elephant bamboo)
Bengaluru, August 08: Agriculture Minister HN Shivashankar Reddy said that due to scanty rainfall in 13 districts including Raichur, Koppal, Bidar, Kalaburagi, Davangere and Chitradurga, the sowing percentage in kharif season has come down drastically.
Speaking to reporters at Vidhana Soudha here on Wednesday, the Minister said that it was targeted to sow seeds in 74.59 lakh hectare of land. But till August first week, the sowing was done only in 49.47 lakh hectares which is just 66 per cent achievement. Due to scanty rainfall in most of the districts, the sowing activity was not done as expected. So, steps were taken to distribute required seeds and fertilizer to those 13 districts to grow alternative crops, he added.
After monsoon season, the sowing activity would be held in 8 lakh hectares of land during August and September. He was confident of reaching the target of 110 lakh metric tons food grains production this time, he exuded confidence.
Drone survey
It was decided to take the help of Drone technology to survey the crops in various places of the state due to which the government would get actual picture on crop patterns and their conditions. This would help insurance scheme also. The crop patterns were not being mentioned in pahanis. So, it was decided to conduct survey which will be started within a week. This survey would cost minimum Rs 15-20 crore, the Minister said.
Encouragement to agriculture
The government was encouraging zero cultivation method. Shortly a team of officials led by him would visit Ananthapura district in Andhra Pradesh to study zero cultivation methods being adopted there. A comprehensive programme would be introduced to encourage zero cultivation in the state, he said.
Appointment of staff
The appointment process of recruiting total 588 officers and staff including 153 assistant agriculture officers was completed and within 15 days, appointment orders would be issued, he said.
Millets to door-steps
In order to encourage usage and cultivation of millets, marketing facility would be made available through HOPCOMS and KMF to sell the millets. It was also planned to supply the millets to the door-steps of the consumers to avoid middlemen, he added.
“To put an end to the cultivation of eucalyptus and acacia trees which are detrimental to the ground water table, moisture and environment, the government has decided to encourage the programmes to grow elephant bamboo. It was decided to implement the programme as a pilot project in Bengaluru rural, Kolar and Chikkaballapur districts. From this crop, the farmers would get minimum Rs 4 lakh revenue from one acre in just three years”.
- HN Shivashankar Reddy, Agriculture Minister
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PM Modi, RSS strengthening wall in path of SCs, STs, OBCs: Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi (PTI): Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the RSS were strengthening the wall standing in the path of Dalits, Adivasis and OBCs, even as he acknowledged that the UPA took steps to weaken that wall but not to the extent it should have.
Addressing the 'Samvidhan Rakshak Abhiyaan', Gandhi also referred to the function held on Constitution Day in Parliament and said that it is his guarantee, that "Modi has not read" the Constitution.
"If PM Modi would have read this book then what he does daily, he would not do it," Gandhi said, displaying a copy of the Constitution of India.
Gandhi said the country's whole system is pitted against Dalits, Adivasis and backward class people.
He said a wall obstructs the path of Dalits, Adivasis and OBCs and Modi and the RSS are strengthening that wall by "adding cement to it".
"Slowly the wall (obstructing the path of SCs, STs, OBCs) is getting strengthened. Earlier, the UPA government gave MGNREGA, the land acquisition act, the right to food...those were ways to weaken that wall. Today, when I look back, I can say the UPA government did not weaken the wall to the extent it should have, it did not do it as strongly as it should have," Gandhi said.
"However, we used to make efforts to weaken that wall but they (the BJP) are strengthening that wall by adding concrete," the former Congress president said.
Gandhi said a caste survey being carried out in Telangana is a historic step and the Congress will do the same wherever it comes to power.
