Karnataka will promote its own brand of tur dal (pigeon peas) that are grown in Kalaburagi and Yadgir, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said in his budget speech on Friday.
“Tur dal grown in Kalaburagi and Yadgir districts has distinct geographical indication tag. It is proposed to brand this under the name Bhima Pulse,” Bommai said.
Bommai said mini food parks will be established under public-private partnership in phases in all the districts “to augment income of farmers by encouraging value addition, strengthening supply chain and preventing pilferage.”
Bommai also gave a push to natural farming. “Study of nitrogen fixation and bio-analytical techniques in natural farming will be taken up through agricultural/horticultural universities in an area of 1,000 acres each and will be extended to farmers’ lands,” he said.
“Having brought two lakh hectares of farm land under organic farming, our state stands third in production of organic farm produce in the country,” he added.
Through the Karnataka State Agricultural Produce Processing and Export Corporation (KAPPEC), common centres for farmer producer organisations will be developed to take up post-harvest management marketing and export farm produce by formulating a scheme at a cost of Rs 50 crore, Bommai said.
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