Scientists' help sought in making farming cost-effective

The four-day Krishi Mela 2007 and National Organic Farming Exhibition began at the University of Agricultural Sciences campus in Dharwad today and the first day attracted large number of farmers from across the state.

Karnataka agriculture minister Bandeppa Kashampur who inaugurated the event said such events helped farmers know the latest developments in the farm sector and provided a platform for interaction between farmers and scientists, and also among farmers across regions.

He said the government was committed to the welfare of farmers and announced the issue of appointment orders to 410 agriculture officers on Tuesday itself. These officers will serve as agriculture scientists in various parts of the state and assist farmers in using scientific research.

The minister said the policy of preparing the district agriculture plan formulated by Karnataka had been acclaimed by the Planning Commission. He called on agriculture scientists to ensure that the benefits of research reached farmers.

Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council HK Patil advocated the need for a profit-oriented research in agriculture. He said the research done so far helped increase agriculture output but failed to improve the economic condition of farmers.

Regretting that there was a rise in farmers' suicides in the southern states, Patil said the wrong crop pattern adopted by farmers was responsible for the state of affairs. He sought guidance of agriculture scientists in making farming cost-effective.

Patil also had a word of advice for vice-chancellors of UAS Dharwad and Bangalore. Quoting the Arora Committee report on the impact of research in two universities on the farmers of the region, H K Patil said hardly 20 per cent of the research had reached the farmers and rest had remained in the lab.

He wanted the two V-Cs to ensure researches were beneficial to farmers.