The International Crops Research Institute of the Semi-Arid Tropics (Icrisat) has launched an agro-ecotourism complex at Manmool in Patancheru campus. | |
| The complex, located at the site where formerly Manmool village stood, houses a castle, temple, mosque, chapel, a golf driving range and a running track. |
| |
| The location of the complex at Manmool is historic, since it is the original site where Icrisat's research activities began. According to Hindu legends, Manmool is believed to have been a town called 'Mandagola'. Etymologically, folklore has it that 'Manmool' is adapted from the original village name 'mandu-moola', where 'mandu' stands for medicine and 'mool' means roots. Manmool, in this context, could mean the 'roots of healing'. |
| |
| Icrisat director-general William Dar, who inaugurated the complex on Monday, said in a press statement that the agro-ecotourism complex provides opportunities for staff members of Icrisat to rejuvenate their physical and spiritual health. |
| |
| "This in turn will help them to be more proactive in improving agricultural productivity and strengthening the livelihoods of the poor and marginal farmers in the semi-arid tropics," he said. |
| |
|
| |
