Kharge urges government for additional bonus to Karnataka farmers

New Delhi, March 21 : Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday urged the government to grant additional bonus of Rs 1,000 per quintal over the MSP for tur dal to farmers, specially those from Karnataka which is one of the major tur producing states in the country.

"I urge upon the government to kindly grant additional bonus of Rs 1,000 per quintal in the interest of the farmers. This facility should also be extended to the farmers who have already sold their tur (pigeon pea) pulse at MSP (Minimum Support Price)," Kharge said in the Lok Sabha.

He said the central government has announced MSP for tur at Rs 5,050 with a bonus of Rs 425 and the Karnataka government provided an additional bonus of Rs 450 per quintal, but it is quite low and does not cover the cost of production borne by the farmers of the state.

"As per estimation of Karnataka agriculture price commission, total cost of production works out to Rs 6,403 per quintal in the state. Keeping this in view, it is requested that an additional bonus of Rs 1,000 be announced by the Government of India over and above the MSP of Rs. 5,050," Kharge said.

Kharge said that Karnataka had a record area sown of 12.5 lakh hectare of Tur. 

"In the backdrop of high prices in 2015-16, various initiatives were taken for increasing pulses' production. The year 2016 was the International Year of Pulses. 

"Even though monsoon was poor this year in Karnataka, the anticipated production of Tur this year is estimated to be about 7.1 lakh tons, more than three times the average annual production," he said. 

The Congress leader also asked the government to procure Tur from the farmers at the same rate it imports Tur from outside the country. 

"The government last year imported 57 lakh tonnes Tur. This year also they have imported 27.86 lakh tonnes at the rate of Rs 10,114 per quintal. Instead of importing Tur from outside, the government should come forward to purchase from our own farmers at the same rate or at least at the rate of Rs 7,000 per quintal," he said.