Kerala varsity draws up plans to boost farm sector

According to KAU vice-chancellor KR Viswambharan, "the university will initiate steps to popularise mechanisation in paddy cultivation and also develop new machines keeping in mind the local farm requirements in this regard." The new machines would be developed under the aegis of the proposed agro-engineering service units the KAU plans to set up.

Besides, the university would launch a scheme aimed at farm rejuvenation in Wyanad district in the state this year, he said. The scheme would incur a cost of Rs 7.05 crore and be backed by the National Agricultural Innovation Project.

The scheme is to be initiated with active participation from the regional agriculture research centre at Ambalavayal and the veterinary college at Pookode.

Viswambharan said the scheme was aimed at improving the quality of life and income among the farmer community in the district. It would focus on farming, animal husbandry, pisciculture and the like by forming farmers' clusters.

This apart, to give a fillip to research and education in biotechnology in the state, the KAU will start an integrated postgraduate course in the discipline this academic year. The five-year course will get under way at the College of Agriculture at Vellayani and will be jointly managed by nine institutions related to the agri sector in Thiruvananthapuram, he added.

According to the state budget, an amount close to Rs 3 crore has been allocated for starting the new course.

Elaborating on this, he said that the KAU proposes to rope in institutions such as the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Regional Cancer Centre, Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute, Central Tuber Crops Research Institute, Kerala University, Veterinary Biological Institute, Ayurveda Regional Research Institute, National Institute for Inter-Disciplinary Science and Technology.