Patches of green followed by patches of brown dominate the scene through the villages of Hoskote taluk, a major horticultural crop supplier to Bengaluru, situated roughly 35 kilometres from the city centre. Cabbage, tomato, sunflower, marigold, and maize are among the crops grown in the fields adjacent to the highway, but on a scorching March morning, half the fields are dry and barren.
While drought has hit the drinking water supply to Bengaluru, the dry season affecting the horticulture belt around the city has burnt a hole in the pockets of consumers in the last year as prices of vegetables soar, with withering crops and the resultant supply crunch.
The Hindu visited this belt — Hoskote in Bengaluru Rural district, a couple of taluks in Kolar and Chikkaballapur districts — to find out how badly agriculture is affected and whether what Bengalureans are shelling out for their vegetables is reaching the farmers who are struggling to keep their crops alive.
