The Hindu Business Line : No takers for new wheat varieties from UAS Dharwar

Last year, the Karnataka Roller Flour Mills Association entered into a loose contract with farmers in Dharwar to grow the DRW 162 and DRW 195 varieties.

However, the yields have been poor.

Though the quality of the wheat is very good with high gluten content, it does not seem to have made any difference to the millers.

It is also reported that the contract was not adhered to and that the wheat was sold in the open market where prices were higher than those contracted for.

According to sources in the milling industry, volumes and coverage are still low.

"We were ready to give seeds at a subsidised price and encourage production, but it has not taken off," they said.

Wheat production in the State was seen as a solution to the problems of millers.

These millers have to depend on Punjab and Haryana by and large for raw materials.

FCI policies and transportation woes have created problems.

As a result, the mills have had to be run at much lower than the installed capacities.

The idea was to make Karnataka self-sufficient in wheat over the long term, but that dream is still a long way off, the sources said.

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