Kerala   

Plan to increase paddy farming

Thrissur: The Kerala Agricultural University has drawn up a plan to increase the area under paddy cultivation in the State to 40 lakh hectares and production to 20 lakh tonnes.

KAU Vice-Chancellor K.R. Viswambharan told a university general council meeting on Friday that productivity would be enhanced to 4.5 tonnes per hectare. “Projects to increase productivity of coconut to 10,000 nuts per hectare and promote cultivation of medical plants are on the anvil.”

The KAU would get financial assistance of Rs.1 crore to establish a weather forecasting system with the technical support of the Indian Space Research Organisation, Cochin University of Science and Technology and the India Meteorological Department. It would give technical advice to farmers in the district twice a week. The facility would later be extended to blocks and panchayats. “A proposal has been submitted to the government to solve the financial crisis in KAU,” Mr. Viswambharan said. The council decided to convene a meeting to discuss the financial crisis. The meeting approved a proposal to start a one-year post-graduate diploma course in Landscape Horticulture at the College of Horticulture in Vellanikkara. Those who attended the meeting included Rajaji Mathew Thomas, C. Ravindranath and Saju Paul, MLAs.

A section of KAU employees barged into the general council meeting to press various demands. The police arrested them. Various organisations staged dharnas at KAU on Friday.

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