From farmers' delight to a liability

DHARWAD: There's nothing you can tell Yellappa Bendigeri to make him step inside the agricultural museum at Dharwad. The farmer from Chikkamalligwad says the 98-year-old structure has been rotting away for about four years now.
The museum at Shivaji circle, run by the Karnataka Krishi Sangha (KKS), was once the go-to place for farmers in the district.They got the low-down on every new farming-related technology - be it an invention, a seed or a crop species. In its heydays, explains farmer Shivanad Poojar, all the rooms in it had on display different kinds of seed and plant breeds. The staff guided visiting farmers on various agricultural aspects - from sowing to harvesting. Woman farmers were also trained, adds Poojar.
The museum's condition today can serve as a study in contrasts. Not only are the exhibit cases empty, but some of them are also broken, alleges Bendigeri. Maps on crop patterns of various regions are damaged and a thick film of dust lines every room. Waste has been generously dumped in some rooms, which many birds like pigeons and sparrows have turned into their homes.
Poojar explains that now, farmers prefer heading off to the University of Agricultural Sciences, instead, when they need guidance.
Blaming the museum's downfall on the severe fund crunch it faces, he claims that the KKS has not got any grant from the state government to run it.
Mallikarjun Malladad, managing director of KKS, admits that the museum is dilapdated. "We have not undertaken any repair work as the building is too old and may crumble during renovations."
He, however, adds that there are big remodelling plans in the pipeline. "We plan to construct a new complex, the Krishi Smaraka Bhavan, which will house the museum. We will develop it in a big way to help farmers."