A number of areas in the district, including K.R. Nagar, H.D. Kote and Hunsur, are witnessing distress sale of cattle after farmers are finding it difficult to cope with the shortage of water and fodder.
Owing to lack of resources, small and marginal farmers are finding it difficult to maintain their cattle. Farmers, who have milch animals for additional income, are selling them at reduced prices compared to the market price.
Thippanna, a small farmer in K.R. Nagar, told The Hindu that he could not bear to see his animals suffering from hunger and thirst. “I decided to sell them in the hope that they would get sufficient water and fodder in a rich farmer’s shelter. Moreover, I had commitments which I could not settle owing to crop loss in the past two years, he said, adding that a part of the money from the sale of the cow would be used to settle the interest for the loan amount.
Manjanna, another farmer from Hunsur, that he sold a few of the bullocks he had bought from Hassan a few years ago and nourished well. He said one animal consumed over a tractor load of hay a month for which he had to spend nearly Rs. 8,000. It was really painful to sell what I raised with so much care, but it had become impossible to arrange for fodder and water, he said.
Just like Manjanna, for many small and marginal farmers, the sale of cattle is important to wipe off debt.
Meanwhile, former zilla panchayat president Pushpavathi Amarnath and many other ZP members, including S.R. Nandish, and Bhagya and Basavanna, told The Hindu that milch cows are being sold in the range of Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 30,000, while the actual price was between Rs. 50,000 and Rs. 60,000.
They demanded the zilla panchayat and district administration fill tanks in villages, besides constructing concrete tanks to provide water to animals.
They also urged the government to supply fodder free of cost.
