Belagavi farmers suffer crop loss due to poor seed quality and excess rain

Belagavi: The farmers of Belgaum taluk, who were once grappling with drought, are now facing a devastating crop loss due to excess rain and poor-quality seeds. The situation is particularly dire for farmers in Kadoli and surrounding villages, where frustration and anger are mounting.

In the current season, potatoes have been cultivated across 1,100 hectares in Belgaum taluk, with approximately 400 acres dedicated to this crop in Kadoli village alone. However, farmers are now lamenting that the distribution of substandard potato seeds has led to a catastrophic failure of their crops, leaving them with nothing to harvest.

Despite a promising start to the season, with favorable monsoon rains across Belgaum district, the poor-quality seeds have caused the potatoes to spoil in the ground. This has prompted many farmers to uproot their crops in frustration and demand accountability from those responsible for distributing the defective seeds.

The potatoes grown in and around Kadoli are typically supplied to various parts of the country, including major markets in Delhi and Agra. However, farmers who hadinvested millions of rupees in these crops are now facing severe financial losses, with many left in tears after witnessing their hard work literally rot away.

Farmer leader Appasaheb Desai expressed his anguish, telling ‘”The entire potato crop has been ruined due to bad seeds. Crops sown with other seeds are thriving, but these poor seeds from private traders have devastated us. We urgently need horticultural scientists and officials to inspect the situation and for the government to take immediate action.”

Another farmer, Gajanan Kaganikar, shared his plight, stating, “We leased two acres of land for Rs 30,000 per year and invested around Rs 1 lakh in fertilizers and medicines. We expected a return of Rs 2.5 lakh, but everything is lost. We need compensation to survive.”

In response to the outcry, Deputy Director of the Horticulture Department, Mahantesh Muragoda, assured that taluk horticultural officials would be instructed to inspect the affected areas. He added that a crop damage survey is currently underway and that the government will soon take action to provide compensation to the farmers who have suffered these losses.