Y Kallanagouda Patil, 46, of Uppinbetegeri village in Dharwad taluk owns 52 acres jointly with his three brothers. He holds a diploma in agriculture from a school in Raichur.
Patil grows cotton on ten acres, apart from sugarcane, potato, Bengal gram, jowar, tur,moong and vegetables. He uses groundwater to irrigate his fields. The water is drawn from a depth of 280 feet. Electricity is free so he flood irrigates the fields, except the one under banana where he uses drip irrigation. He does not micro-irrigate cotton because it is closely planted and has to make way for another crop after eight months.
This farmer has his cost all worked out. Making quick mental calculations, he estimates the cost of cotton crop at Rs 22,500 an acre and the realization from 17 quintals an acre at Rs 68,000. He had planted Bayer seed. ‘I do not understand technology, he says, all I know is if I use Bt seed there will be no pest attack.’
