Mysuru: For four years they cultivated only one crop for lack of rainfall, but now the people of Aralkuppe village, 13 kms from Pandavapura taluk in Mandya district, are elated at being able to cultivate a second paddy crop in their fields due to the good rainfall this monsoon. To add to their joy Chief Minister H D Kumarswamy will flag off the sowing over five acres in Seethapura-Aralkuppe villages on August 11.
The fields where the sowing will begin belong to 88- year- old Mahadevamma, and her sons Yogendra and Lokesh, 55- year- old Maayamma and her sons Yogendra and Hemanthkumar, late Kullamma and her sons, Devaraj and Madhu, and 35 -year- old Hemalatha Mahesh. Says Yogendra, son of Mahadevamma, "Chief Minnister H.D. Kumarswamy will offer pooja at Anajayaswamy temple on the banks of the Cauvery near our village and will later sow paddy symbolically on our fields. He will later have lunch with 145 workers, including 100 women, who will sow paddy with him. We plan to offer a meal of ragi balls and kaalu saaru to him."
Adds Hemanth Kumar, son of Mayamma, "We cultivated only one crop a year instead of two due to lack of rainfall over the past four years. Badly in debt, my father Kempeerigegowda died of a heart attack three years ago. There have been several farmers' suicides as well in the past few years in Mandya district. The visit of the chief minister to our village and the sowing of paddy on our land will bring hope, and the promise that the state government is with us and all the farmers of Mandya district and elsewhere."
