Farm universities in Dharwad advised to transfer technology to fields

Karnakaka governor asks them to select a few villages and guide farmers on adopting scientific methods of farming

Governor Vajubhai Vala has urged the Universities of Agricultural Sciences (UAS) to launch pilot projects to help in the transfer of technology to the agricultural fields.

Inaugurating the foundation day programme of the UAS-Dharwad here on Tuesday, Vajubhai suggested that farm varsities select a few villages in their respective jurisdictions and guide farmers on adopting scientific methods of farming.

“The agriculture scientists should go to the villages, spend time with farmers and guide them on enhancing productivity, reducing the cost of production and other such issues,” he said. The government should be informed on such projects and their assistance too could be taken. Later, the models of the transfer of technology evolved through a pilot project could be extended to other parts of the state, he said.

The governor highlighted the importance of soil testing to ensure an optimum yield. He said, soil testing helps bring down the unwanted expenses and regulate fertiliser usage in farm practices. In Gujarat the government’s scheme to issue Soil Health Card (SHC) has helped streamline the cost of production, he said.

Emphasising the importance of agricultural scientists in tackling the new problems cropping up, Vajubhai said farm scientists had played a key role in achieving the Green Revolution. “Now is the time they contributed to face the new age challenges haunting the agriculture sector,” he added.

Expressing concern over youngsters from agriculture families moving away from farming, Dharwad MP and state BJP president Prahlad Joshi said, the UAS should make efforts to ensure youths continue to practice agriculture. For this, agriculture should become a remunerative profession. The UAS should help with modern ways of overcoming the problems in achieving this task, he said.

Meanwhile, it was also the day the curtain fell on the four-day Krishi Mela-2014 that held at UAS here. The mega event saw various seeds worth Rs 74 lakh being sold. The farmers bought nearly 10,000 quintals of seeds for rabi season.

Braving the heavy downpour on all the four days of the mela over 1.3 million people, including farmers, extension workers, scientists, businessmen, students and other citizens visited the mela.

UAS V-C D P Biradar said the varsity will aim for farmers’ development besides stre- ngthening the efforts for food security by helping them to retain the richness of the soil.

The varsity had set up soil testing units at the venue and large number of farmers got the soil tested in these units. The challenges faced by the farmers following the change in weather patterns were discussed at the mela and farmers had a chance to have face-to-face interactions with scientists to get their doubts cleared.