Bangalore, January 03:Karnataka Agriculture Mission Chairman S A Patil today urged the Centre to set up a national grid for oilseeds at Bagalkot following the availability of vast potential land in the backwaters of Almatti dam.
Addressing a southern regional workshop on oil seeds here, he said more than 50,000 hectares of land was available in the backwaters of Bagalkot district for production of oilseeds like groundnut and sunflower.
Setting up of such national grids in potential and command areas in different parts of the country would be a big step for enhancing the production and regulation of the supply in oilseeds,” he said.
There is an urgent need for increasing the yield of oilseedsproduction on a mission-mode approach as the country was presently importing oilseeeds worth Rs 12,000 crore a year. It was likely to double in the next 20 years, he said.
Union Additional Secretary Ashish Bahuguna called for setting up a mechanism for stabilising. Prices through a market intervention operation on par with the other cash crops.
This would help in preventing farmers from shifting over to other crops from oilseeds, he said.
Project Director of the Directorate of Oilseeds Research D M Hegde said the immediate measure needed was to encourage farmers to go in far inter-crop cultivation in oilseeds production.
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