Karnataka to encourage farmers to grow crops of dying strains

"Strains of nine crops are dying. We want to encourage farmers to grow them more", Horticulture Minister Umesh V Katti told reporters here. He said a meeting was held recently where it was decided to encourage farmers to grow such crops more. They include "Rasabale", "Kempubale", "Mysore Mallige" and "Mangalore Mallige", he said.

Government would run awareness campaigns for farmers and provide saplings of such crops from Government nurseries, among other intiatives to encourage them. According to him, farmers are growing other comparative crops more because they yield better with lesser spending vis-a-vis these nine varieties.