Dharwad: Farmers across Dharwad district have been left disappointed and aggrieved after the Karnataka govt declared 101 drought-hit taluks across the state but excluded all eight taluks in the district from the list.
Farmer leader Mallikarjun Balangoudar said cultivators invested between Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000 per acre on seeds, fertilisers, labour and pesticides, but poor rainfall had dashed hopes of a reasonable harvest.
Despite such losses, the govt has ignored Dharwad,” he said. The disappointment is particularly noteworthy as district minister Santosh Lad had toured all taluks after joining the D.K. Shivakumar-led cabinet and inspected drought-hit fields. He had described the situation as a ‘green drought’, noting that crops in Dharwad, Kalghatagi and Kundgol taluks appeared healthy but had suffered severe moisture stress, affecting yield and pod formation in green gram and black gram. “Forget profits, many farmers are unsure of recovering even their investment.