Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Farmers can ‘Net’ help

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Banana farmers in the district may soon be as familiar with the ‘mouse’ as their agricultural equipment. They will have easy access to online resources for expert advice on agricultural practices like planting methods, pest control and soil fertility.

The Thiruvananthapuram District Panchayat has initiated a project to provide them with a gateway to the cyber world.

The panchayat is setting up four Village Knowledge Centres (VKC) to empower farmers with modern ICT (Information and Communication Technology) tools. The initiative is part of the Samagra Rural Business Hub (RBH) project for promotion of banana cultivation and manufacture of value-added products.

The first Village Knowledge Centre was opened at Perungadavila last month. It is expected to go online by October. The other three units are to be set up at Kilimanoor, Nedumangad and the District Panchayat headquarters at Pattom.

The VKCs will be equipped with field staff to provide advice and train farmers. The centres will have Internet access and videoconferencing facility, using which farmers can interact with scientists from the Kerala Agricultural University.

Meanwhile, banana farmers in seven panchayats in the district have started planting high-quality hybrid saplings under the RBH project. Ten panchayats are to be covered in the next phase. “Our target is to bring 200 hectares under cultivation every month,” says district panchayat secretary Santhoshkumar. The project seeks to cover 2,400 hectares in a phased manner. Kudumbasree units are being trained to take up large-scale farming.

The panchayat is also gearing up to establish a tissue culture laboratory that will provide high-quality saplings for the project. The lab with a capacity of 10 lakh saplings is expected to become operational in six months. Enhancing the productivity of banana farms is a crucial component of the project. “We hope to raise the production from the existing two tonnes per hectare to over 10 tonnes,” says Mr. Santhoshkumar. The farmers are currently sourcing saplings from private nurseries in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

The RBH project also involves setting up model farms and demonstration gardens, soil testing units, biocontrol laboratories, vermicompost units, cold storage facilities and training and R&D centres. As many as 18,000 families in the district are expected to benefit from the venture. Four packing houses will also be set up at different places to grade and pack banana bunches.

The Rs.42.665-crore project will be jointly funded by the National Horticulture Mission, Kudumbasree Mission, the panchayat and banks.

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