The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Integrated paddy farming at Vellayani from November

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Integrated paddy farming at Vellayani from November

Special Correspondent

Expert panel constitutes two sub-committees

Thiruvananthapuram: The district panchayat is drawing up plans to take up an integrated project to promote paddy farming in 110 hectares of land at Vellayani.

An expert panel comprising farmers, agricultural scientists and representatives of various government agencies, which met at the College of Agriculture, Vellayani on Thursday constituted two sub committees to take the project forward, one in the Kalliyoor gram panchayat and another in the Nemom ward under the City Corporation. An apex committee chaired by district panchayat president Anavoor Nagappan and with the Revenue Divisional Officer and the Dean, College of Agriculture as vice-presidents has also been formed.

Of the 110 hectares identified for the project, 100 acres are under cultivation by six padasekhara samithis.

Dean Dr. K.Harikrishnan Nair, who chaired the expert committee meeting on Thursday, had finalised a time-bound schedule to resolve the problems affecting farmers such as drainage, dewatering of fields and weeds.

Separate reports

He said the sub committees for Kalliyoor and Nemom had been asked to come up with separate project reports for promotion of paddy farming in their respective areas.

Mr. Nair said the integrated project was expected to be launched in November this year. “It will be a participatory project with the involvement of padasekhara samithis, district panchayat, City Corporation, gram panchayat and the staff and students of the College of Agriculture. A monitoring committee will keep a strict tab on the project and iron out problems.”

He said the college would provide technical support for the project.

Officials from the KSEB and Irrigation department, representatives of the padasekhara samithis and scientists from the Agronomy, Soil Sciences, Entomology, Pathology and Extension divisions of the College of Agriculture participated in the expert committee meeting.

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