TALKING DEVELOPMENT: Agriculture Minister Bandeppa Kashempur listens to an announcement on the radio after inaugurating a station dedicated to agriculture at the University of Agricultural Sciences in Dharwad on Thursday.

DHARWAD: The country's first community radio station (FM 90.4) for farmers was dedicated to the them by Agriculture Minister Bandeppa Kashempur here on Thursday.

At the inauguration of the "Samudaya Banuli Kendra" at the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Dharwad, Mr. Kashempur said the State Government planned to set up community radio stations in all district centres to disseminate information on issues related to agriculture.

The Government was also contemplating giving radio sets to farmers at subsidised prices, the Minister said.

Mr. Kashempur said to take information on soil fertility and other agriculture-related issues to farmers, the Government would implement the Raita Mitra Pustaka Scheme. Another scheme on preserving the fertility of the soil named "Bhoomitai Arogya" would also be implemented, he added. It had been proposed to increase the fertility of 35,000 hectares of land every year, the Minister said.

He said the Union Government had implemented the climate-based agricultural insurance scheme in certain districts of Jharkhand and Karnataka from the current year. The Government would start satellite-based programmes at the 747 "Raita Samkarka Kendras" under which farmers could interact with scientists, he said.

A. Ramaswamy, Principal Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Horticulture, urged farmers to face the challenge of products from other countries entering the Indian market. J.H. Kulkarni, Vice-Chancellor, UAS, presided over the function. M.B. Chetty, Registrar, UAS, proposed a vote of thanks.

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