Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and H. D. Kumaraswamy took part in the Coffee Growers’ Convention at Sakaleshpur in Hassan district on Monday.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said on Monday that the Union Government will take all necessary steps to resolve issues in coffee cultivation.
Mr. Goyal spoke after inaugurating the coffee growers conference held at Sakaleshpur on Monday.
The Centre had been getting a revenue of ₹10,000 crore from coffee. “We need to popularise coffee and take up research activities necessary to grow high-quality coffee”, he said adding that he would discuss the issue of providing financial assistance for coffee cultivation with the Finance Minister.
About the elephant menace bothering coffee growers in Hassan, Kodagu, and Chikkamagaluru districts, Mr. Goyal said the Centre would observe and understand the movement of elephants with the help of satellite images. An expert committee would be formed to make recommendations in order to resolve the issue.
Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H. D. Kumaraswamy said that the JD(S)- BJP combine would form the government, and it would fulfill the unfinished agenda of his previous terms as the Chief Minister of Karnataka.
During his first term as the CM in 2006, Mr. Kumaraswamy said he had initiated many programmes for the welfare of the people. A few more needed to be implemented. “The unfinished agenda will be fulfilled once the coalition comes to power. We will launch programmes that will benefit farmers”, he said.
The coffee growers have been facing many difficulties due to climatic conditions. The developments in the international market had an impact on the earnings of coffee growers. The Union Minister Piyush Goyal’s participation in the conference would help in resolving issues bothering the growers, he said.
Mr. Kumaraswamy said there had been debates at the Delhi level on tackling the elephant issue. “I had appealed to the Ministry of Environment and Forests for a solution.”.
The Department has identified 15,000 acres to form an elephant corridor. Farmers had volunteered to offer 3,000 acres. He recalled that during his term as the Chief Minister, he granted ₹100 crore for the railway barricade to stop elephants from entering human habitats.
MPs Tejaswi Surya, Shreyas Patel, MLAs Manjunath, H.K. Suresh, Manthar Gowda, Swaroop Prakash, former Minister H. K. Kumaraswamy, Karnataka Growers Federation president H. T. Mohan Kumar, and others were present.
Published – December 23, 2024 08:06 pm IST