Bengaluru/New Delhi – Former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda met Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh at his residence in New Delhi yesterday morning and urged the Union Minister to constitute an Expert Committee immediately to assess the ground reality of damage which harmed the coconut and arecanut plantations in Karnataka.

He urged the Minister to find a solution to the issue by sanctioning sufficient funds to the State. He also suggested the Minister to direct the authorities concerned to utilise ‘Kerala Model’ plan for the rejuvenation of coconut and arecanut in Karnataka.

Mandya MP C.S. Puttaraju was also present on the occasion.

“The situation of the coconut and arecanut growing farmers which is now prevailing has never been faced before in Karnataka. In this connection, I personally visited the severely affected areas of Bengaluru, Tumakuru, Hassan, Chikkamagaluru, Chitradurga, Davangere and coastal areas of Mangaluru during March 2017 to assess the situation. The coconut and arecanut plantations were completely destroyed following crop damage, drought and other reasons and the farmers have financially suffered a lot and put to hardship. Almost the same problem is faced by the farmers of some other districts also,” Deve Gowda said in his request to the Union Minister.