The department of agriculture, government of Karnataka, has launched a pilot programme to promote integrated farming in about 1,000 villages across the state. The government has earmarked a financial assistance of Rs 50 crore for the programme in 2012-13.
“The University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore has developed a model for an integrated approach to agriculture and the Karnataka Krishi Mission (KKM) had suggested to the government to adopt this model and introduce statewide. The government has accepted our recommendation and launched the programme from this crop year,” S A Patil, President, KKM said.
Under this programme, the department of agriculture would provide select farmers in 1,000 villages a package of best farming practices, good quality planting material, seeds and training to grow crops. They will also be given training on different branches of agriculture like horticulture, animal husbandry, poultry, fisheries and agro-forestry. They would also be given assistance from seed selection to marketing of their produce, he said.
Speaking at a panel discussion on ‘Technology as a Driver of Growth: Ensuring Farm Productivity’, organised by Delhi-based commodities’ research firm IndoAsiancommodities.com, Patil said a diploma course in agriculture has been introduced in the Universities of Agriculture Sciences in the state. The objective of the course is to prepare youth on various aspects of farming at the middle level and engage them in dissemination of knowledge to farmers.
The pilot programme will be in place for a period of five years and scaled up later based on the response from the farming community. Through this programme, the department will develop models of integrated farming in select villages for further replication in other villages over the years, he said.
The department of agriculture has also started working on identifying farmer leaders, engaged in integrated farming at village level to train the fellow farmers on modern, scientific methods of farming, he said.
source: http://www.Business-Standard.com / Home> Economy & Policy / by BS Reporter – Bangalore, Chennai / August 29th, 2012