Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Taking business to the villages

Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The District Panchayat has joined hands with the Kudumbasree Mission to set up a network of Village Knowledge Centres for farm extension activities.

The project will be taken up as a support mechanism for the Samagra Rural Business Hub scheme aimed at promoting banana cultivation and production of value added products.

The centres will have information regarding banana cultivation practices. The centres will have internet facility for farmers to access information on farming and trade of banana. The centres will exhibit information on diseases and pests affecting banana crops and control measures to be adopted by the farmers. A library is also being planned.

The State IT Mission would provide video conferencing facilities at these centres by connecting it to the facility currently earmarked for block headquarters.

The centres will be manned by a young agriculture graduate who will disseminate information to the farmers. The centres will function from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on all working days. Farmers can also use the telephone to access the farm extension services offered by the centre. The diagnostic team will visit the field within 24 hours of receiving a request for assistance.

The first Village Knowledge Centre will be opened to the public at the Peringadavila grama panchayat on July 19. Agriculture Minister Mullakara Ratnakaran is scheduled to inaugurate it. V.J. Thankappan, MLA, will release the gap analysis report of the Samagra project by handing over a copy to the Minister.

District Panchayat president Anavoor Nagappan will preside over the function.

As many as 6000 Kudumbasree units are involved in the Samagra project estimated to cost Rs.42 lakh.

The District Panchayat has drawn up a plan to promote banana cultivation on 2400 hectare of farmland in the district. A range of value- added products will be manufactured and marketed by the Kudumbasree units as part of the scheme.

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