The State government will consider cloud seeding if the monsoon rain is delayed beyond a week, Agriculture Minister N. Cheluvarayaswamy said on Monday.
He was speaking to journalists after a monsoon review meeting at the Zilla Panchayat Hall in Belagavi.
He said that the State government is in receipt of reports from various departments and agencies that indicated that delayed rain is affecting agriculture activities across the districts. If this situation continues, “we will see whether we can opt for cloud seeding,” he said.
Earlier, he addressed regional level officers at the meeting.
“Officers should realise that farmers will start sowing during the first spell of rain. There will be a huge rush at Raitha Samparka Kendras and agriculture offices for seeds and fertilizers. We should all be prepared for this,” he said.
He said that the State government is committed to providing quality seeds at subsidised rates to farmers. Senior officers should ensure that there is no scarcity of seeds and fertilizers anywhere.
The Minister said that officers will be held responsible if the quality of seeds is found to be poor. All officers should focus on procurement, storage, transportation and supply of seeds and fertilizers. They should ensure that there are no complaints about these issues.
Officials should coordinate with all related departments and work in a disciplined manner. Any complaint will be investigated and officers found guilty will be strictly dealt with, he said.
“The department has built a transparent system based on scanning of QR codes to trace the movement of goods. In case of technical difficulties, officers are at liberty to make alternative arrangements,” he said.
The Minister said that the department has been already receiving some complaints from farmers about poor quality seeds. “Officers should ensure that such incidents do not occur again,” he said.
The vigilance wing should conduct surprise raids and detect irregularities, he said. Each senior officer should visit storage spaces and sales points to see if seeds and other inputs are certified or not, he said.
He asked officers to look into complaints of crop loss due to unseasonal rainfall. He asked them to conduct joint surveys and upload data on the department portal. He asked officers to set up helplines in all blocks and districts and respond to them immediately.
Agriculture Secretary V. Anbu Kumar said that there is enough stock of seeds and fertilizers with the department. He said that surveys of recent incidents of crop losses are being conducted and data uploaded.
Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Harshal Boyer said that Belagavi district is suffering from a rainfall scarcity of 7%. He said that there is no scarcity of seeds or fertilizers.
Agriculture Director G.T. Putra and Additional Director C.B. Balareddy, joint directors from the districts and other officers were present.
