‘KYP an election trick to get votes'

Continued from page 1 walking on fire every day ”

Most of the flowers from Kampli are sent to Bengaluru, Gangavathi, Hospet and other places As there are no machines to pluck the flowers, the farmers have to hire people to do so

“To minimise the cost of paying salaries to the workers, my family members also help in plucking the flowers,” Harish added While the farmers are in distress, the distributors and sellers

The Observer found that Intercropping is not possible in jasmine fields as the plants need sunlight in abundance

Jasmine farms are very few in Ballari district which is evident from the fact that multiple farmers have quit jasmine farming as they face losses

The farmers complain they do not get any incentives and ask for government intervention to set a minimum price for the crop

Mallikarjun Hanumantha, from MHR Foundation, a nonprofit organisation working for the betterment of farmers said: “These farmers need to be aware of the growing and marketing methods They should not only restrict themselves to farming, but also learn marketing techniques to make profit Farmers in the rural areas need to reach out for help The ones who do, often make profit ”

Minimum support prices are only provided for essential food crops listed by the government Currently there are no schemes that can help these farmers arsha s@iijnm org