Background:

The Government of Karnataka has taken a great leap forward by presenting a separate budget for Agriculture for 2011-2012 highlighting the great importance and the political will to improve livelihoods of the small and marginal farmers. In this context, the GoK has launched Suvarna Bhoomi Yojane (SBY) to kick start the engine of agriculture development in the state for improving the socio-economic status of 1 million small and marginal farm households by providing an incentive of Rs 10,000 per family for transforming two acres of their land from low-value to high-value crops during the year 2011-12. ‘Suvarna Bhoomi Yojane’ covers 10 lakh farmer families including 2 lakh Scheduled Caste and 1 lakh Scheduled Tribes. The project envisages covering Agriculture, Horticulture, Sericulture, Pisciculture, etc. Department of Horticulture, GoK has taken a challenge on their hand to help 0.25 million small and marginal farm house holds (HHs) under SBY and helping them to shift from low-value crops to high-value horticultural crops (fruit trees, vegetables, spices, and medicinal and aromatic plants).

The highlights of "Suvarna Bhoomi Yojane" are as follows:

• To support farmers for shifting from low yielding crops to high yielding and income generating crops, thus enabling the farmers to follow improved agricultural production practices, which help in improved crop productivity.

• Encourage farmers to adopt high yielding crops of Oilseeds, Pulses and Commercial Crops like B.T. Cotton.

• Scheme primarily aims at the farmers of rain fed areas and farmers of command area are not eligible to take the benefits of this scheme.

The Council is providing support to Agriculture Department as an external field verification agency for tracking the progress and performance of the project, and assessing the impacts of intervention in Kolar, Chickkaballapura and Bijapur districts. The Council has completed the process of field evaluation and is in the final stages of completing the project.