This story is from August 18, 2020

Cultivation of black gram helps Mysuru, Chamarajanagar ryots reap rich dividends

Cultivation of black gram helps Mysuru, Chamarajanagar ryots reap rich dividends
Mysuru: Shortage of water in the Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) and Kabini reservoirs during the summer months compelled the authorities of the Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Ltd (CNNL) to refrain from releasing water to the irrigation canals of the two dams. Consequently, farmers in Mysuru and Chamarajanagar who had sown paddy were unable to reap a good harvest. However, ryots who had opted to cultivate black gram have made a killing.

Although there is no regulatory market for pulses, farmers are reportedly earning somewhere between Rs 4,500 and Rs 7,000 per quintal of black gram, a source told TOI. “Each acre yields nearly three to five quintals of the crop,” he added.
The competitive price that pulses are fetching has prompted many farmers in the Cauvery delta in Karnataka to switch to cultivation of black gram, green gram, et al, during this kharif season. Pulses have been sown across more than 53,000 hectares in Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts, including rain-fed and irrigated areas.
Farmers in T Narasipura, Nanjangud taluks in Mysuru, Kollegal, Hanurm Gundlupet and Chamarajanagar taluks in the neighbouring district have taken to large-scale cultivation of pulses following heavy showers during the summer. CNNL officials too have encouraged farmers to take to cultivation of pulses owing to the minimal amount of water that it requires.
However, farmers feel that the absence of a statutory body to regulate the pricing of the crop has eaten into their profits. “We are forced to rely on middlemen and local traders, who offer us Rs 4,500 to Rs 7,000, depending on the quality of our crops. The state government must allow the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd to procure pulses directly from the farmers,” said Kiragasur Shankar, a farmer engaged in the cultivation of black gram.
Joint director of the department of agriculture Mahanteshappa told TOI that, while cultivation of pulses was commonplace in the arid districts of North Karnataka, the trend was picking up in the Cauvery and Kapila basins as well. “Moreover, cultivation of pulses in irrigated lands helps enrich the fertility of the soil, keeps the chances of crops contracting diseases low and of course, farmers’s revenue shoots up,” Mahanteshappa told TOI.
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