The workshop is being held at the TNAU campus from March 29 to 31 to formulate the annual action plan of Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. KVK scientists from across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry are participating in the workshop.
Coimbatore: The inaugural function of the Annual Action Plan workshop for KVKs of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry was jointly inaugurated by the Directorate of Extension Education, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Coimbatore and ICAR – Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute, Zone X, Hyderabad.
The workshop is being held at the TNAU campus from March 29 to 31 to formulate the annual action plan of Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. KVK scientists from across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry are participating in the workshop. During the workshop, the KVK scientists along with experts from various fields of agriculture, horticulture and animal sciences will discuss and formulate the annual action plan of each KVKs of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
The workshop was inaugurated by TNAU's Vice-Chancellor, Dr. V Geethalakshmi. She requested the KVK scientists to focus on the action plan based on the recent issues at the farm level, focusing on the stakeholders, namely farmers. She recalled the 6th IPCC report which was developed based on addressing the issues related to the stakeholders to reach the grassroot levels. Dr. V Geethalakshmi also emphasised that TNAU was working to address issues of farmers based on agro-climatic zones.
"TNAU is popularising the practices of natural farming and organic farming among the farmers and for this purpose, every KVK has been allotted with one hectare of model farm, for witnessing by the farming community. KVK scientists must adopt the latest and innovative extension methods to disseminate the agricultural technologies. This kind of technology dissemination is very much helpful to the educated farmers and also the educated rural youth and job holders who have been shifting from other job sectors into agriculture in recent times," opined Dr. V Geethalakshmi.
She further added, "TNAU will update the Agri Portal which has a lot of information about agriculture and allied enterprises with more than 12 lakh pages of information. All the KVKs should go with innovative training programs involving Agri input traders and other important stakeholders. Kalaignarin All Village Integrated Agriculture Development Programme (KAVIADP) by TNAU should be popularised by KVK Scientists to ensure TNAU varieties are sought after by farming communiities. E- marketing for famers, for easy availabity of seeds, products etc. will be introduced shortly on the online platform."
Dr. Shaik N Meera, Director, ICAR – Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute (ATARI) highlighted with enthusiasm that KVKs were celebrating the Golden Jubilee Year (1974 – 2023). "The first KVK was started at Puducherry during 1974 under Tamil Nadu Agricultural University."
He listed 10 important points to be followed for effective technology dissemination among the farming community and also narrated the importance of Digital Extension, IoT, value chain, usage of Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture, Drone Application in Agriculture and also value addition for millet and products. "Look out for the uniqueness in every activity, products and technologies to improve profitability rather than productivity alone. Science should reach the doorstep of farmers for the betterment of agriculture among farmers," he added.
Dr. M Rajakumar, Director of Extension Education, Tamil Nadu Jayalalitha Fisheries University, Nagapattinam, in his special address mentioned, "KVK should be a place where the farmers should get one-stop solutions. Since, fisheries come under the Pradhan Manthiri Scheme, it has been planned to double the fish production in 2025.
Dr. Apparao, Director of Extension Education, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences delivered a special address and emphasised the importance of Intensive Integrated Farming System to meet the need of the hour. "The technological intervention by the KVK scientists may be according to the agro-climatic zone and the livestock population," he added.
Earlier, Dr. P P Murugan, Director, Directorate of Extension Education, TNAU, Coimbatore welcomed the gathering and informed that during the workshop, KVK scientists have planned to discuss the On Farm Trials and Front-Line Demonstrations, as well as trainings on nine themes with different experts.
About 31 Programme Coordinators, Senior Scientists and Subject Matter Specialists and two KVKs from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry participated in the workshop. Dr. N Anandaraja, Professor and Head, Department of Training Division, TNAU, Coimbatore concluded the workshop by proposing the vote of thanks.