BANGALORE: The state government has appealed to the Union government to send a Central Study Team to assess the situation and release grants to tackle the situation.Speaking to newsmen here on Thursday, Agriculture Minister Umesh V Katti informed that Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda has written a letter to the Centre to send a study team.Stating that following scarce rainfall in some pockets of the state, expected production from the farm sector was likely to take a hit, said the minister. He said that the state may fall short of meeting its target to achieve last year’s performance of 130 lakh tonnes of produce.Informing that so far the state had received rainfall of 477 mm as against the average of 808 mm, the minister said that about 7 per cent of agriculture land was left un-sowed this kharif season.“Last year the agricultural production stood at an all-time high of 132 lakh tonne following copious rains, sufficient availability of fertilisers and other inputs,” Katti said.Replying to questions, the minister criticised the Centre for withdrawing the fertiliser subsidy and allowing manufacturing companies to decide the selling price. “This move would not only hurt the economy of the farmers but also threaten food security in the days to come,” he warned.He said that the Centre approved the release of 21 lakh tonnes of fertiliser against the state’s demand of 23 lakh tonnes for the kharif season. However, the manufacturing companies have released only 19 lakh tonne so far.Stating that on the Centre’s decision on the issue of fertiliser subsidy the price of fertiliser has shot up twice in less than six months.
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