The Karnataka government on Thursday urged the central government to come forward to procure maize and rescue the farmers who are in distress following the severe price crash.The state government has already taken steps at its level like opening procurement centres.

The market prices have fallen far below the Minimum Support Price (MSP) declared by the Government of India, creating widespread distress among the cultivators, it said.

“When we are faced with a problem of marketing or using maize produce, the government of India has reduced maize procurement to 30 per cent instead of 40 per cent. The central government policies are causing problems for maize farmers. They are not even giving go ahead for the NAFED to purchase,” Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said after the Cabinet meeting.

Briefing reporters, he said the Cabinet seriously discussed the central government’s neglect towards maize farmers. “We urge the central government to come forward to procure maize and they should give the required strength to the state,” he said.

He also urged the Centre to relax the Fair Average Quality (FAQ) norms for green gram and thereby come to the rescue of Karnataka farmers. The minister further said, regarding maize procurement, the CM has called a meeting of distilleries and ethanol manufacturers in the state on Friday evening.

Maize is used to manufacture ethanol as it is also one of the base raw materials for its production, he said. One of the main reasons for maize farmers’ issue is ethanol allocation norms, which is disadvantageous to Karnataka despite having capacity. “The Cabinet has taken a serious view of this. The CM has already pleaded before the Prime Minister that it should be increased,” he said.