Among the farmers was Chandrashekar from Nitturu village in Davangere, who was in doubt whether shifting from chemical farming to organic farming will harm his three acres land and decrease productivity. Scientists and other agricultural experts at the Gandhi Krishi Vikasa Kendra (GKVK) campus explained to him the benefits of shifting and cleared other doubts he had. Like Chandrashekar, there were hundreds of others with questions on farming practices.
More than 200 stalls were set up to provide information to farmers on organic farming, hybrid cultivation, integrated cultivation, new modern technologies and equipment, bank loans, animal husbandry, horticulture and fishery.
The mela provided a perfect platform for farmers to learn about the new technology and farming methodology. “I explain farmers about the benefits of cultivating hybrid tomato (L120 cross Pusaruby), which has a longer lifetime than the regular one,” said Satish Kumar K, a senior researcher at UAS.
“By cultivating these tomatoes he can sell them when the price is good. Even the damage rate is comparatively less in these tomatoes. They have all the qualities like taste, size and colour,” he added.
Organic farming was one of the hot topics at the mela. The stall providing the information was crowed. “There is a strong inclination among farmers to adopt organic farming,” said Dr K Narayana Gowda, Dean of Agriculture UAS. Addressing the gathering MLA Krishna Byregowda said, “This is a festival of farmers, as they can get all information at one centre.”
Agriculture minister, S A Ravindra said, “Healthy and eco-friendly agriculture is the biggest challenge we have in-front of us. More importance will be given to organic fertilisers, bio- pesticides and wormi-compost,” added Ravindra.
S A Patil, president, Karnataka Krishi Mission said, “If there has to happen a second green revolution then it has to be via engineering technology in agriculture like land levelling, water harvesting and others. Else we will be lagging behind.” He stressed on the need for setting up of a Chair where even farmers can do research.
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