Karnataka Agricultural Policy - Institute for Social and Economic ...

Karnataka Agicultural Policy 2006
Organic Farming System will be made compulsory on 40 per cent land of the Government owned
agricultural, horticulture, sericulture and forest nurseries.
Protection and development of local livestock breeds will be undertaken through a special vehicle
designed by the Veterinary University, Bidar.
Organic Seed Banks will be opened at each Raitha Samparka Kendra and Panchayat Office. Local
level Farmers’ Committee will manage these.
The food provided at mid-day meals and Anganwadi Centres will be prepared out of Organic farm
products, and that should be purchased from farmers or farmers' groups.
Organic Farmers Associations will be promoted in order to facilitate certification of the products.
Subsidy scheme will be prepared for harvesting, collection, processing and marketing expenditure
relating to Organic Farm Products.
Organic Farming System will be taken up under special extension programme and popularised
through mass media.
19 Bio Fuels
Today in India we import 70 per cent of petroleum per year at a cost of $44 billion. The oil imports
largely dictate the balance of payment of the country. The biofuel revolution may help change the
situation significantly. Even 10 to 15 per cent replacement of the fossil fuel by bio fuel would not
only save precious foreign exchange but will provide employment and livelihood opportunities to a
large number of farmers from the fragile eco regions. Karnataka has vast patches of unutilised and
underutilised lands, and specifically these are located in the steppe of drought prone areas in North
Karnataka. In Karnataka, it is estimated that about 13.5 lakh hectares of arid and semi arid lands are
available to suitably bring under cultivation of plants providing biofuel. This is in addition to the
sugar cane byproducts available from sugar producing units. Even if the available bio fuel is used in
Public Transport Systems and by 25 per cent of the private vehicle owners, the effect can be
remarkable. The technological support for this is already available with the University of
Agricultural Sciences at Bangalore and Dharwad. Therefore, it is not necessary to spend anything on
the generation of the technology. However, it will be required to establish lands to process biofuels at
vantage points in the state. This would require identification of the regions and crops suitable for the
regions. Presently, Jatropha, Maize, Jowar, Neem, Pongamea Simerouba are the identified plant
species that provide good amount of biofuels. Biofuels provide about 159 man day work per year
and net income of Rs 5000 to Rs.9000 per hectare.
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