The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Agriculture extension work not satisfactory, says Commissioner

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Thursday, Jan 08, 2009
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Agriculture extension work not satisfactory, says Commissioner

Special Correspondent

Plea to bring out a handbook for farmers
No dearth of funds for development schemes

BANGALORE: Agriculture Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad on Wednesday expressed concern that the functioning of the agricultural extension wing in the State did not match the expectations of farmers.

Handbook

Participating at a programme organised by the Karnataka Agriculture Graduate Officers’ Association to release the Agri Doctors’ Diary-2009 brought out by it, Mr. Prasad called upon the association to bring out a handbook for farmers providing all the necessary information related to crops, soil health and other issues. Such a handbook was a must to make up for the lacunae in the extension activities, he said.

Agriculture and Horticulture Department Secretary E. Venkataiah, who released the diary, said there was no shortage of funds for taking up development schemes under the Agriculture Department. He called upon the officials to work as a team with all the stakeholders of agriculture, including farmers, to achieve the target of 4 per cent growth in the farm sector.

Association general secretary S.M. Nagaraju appealed to the government to re-commence the recruitment of agricultural assistants. He urged the government to bring about suitable changes in the cadre and recruitment rules to ensure timely promotions to the staff.

Diary

The Agri Doctors’ Diary-2009 which was released on Wednesday contains information required by all the grassroots level functionaries, middle and senior management level officers in the Departments of Agriculture and Watershed Development.

The contents include general information and agriculture-related statistics about land use, area, production and productivity, weather and rainfall, soil health and soil conservation, agriculture inputs such as seeds, fertilizers and plant protection chemicals, weedicides, Quality Control Acts etc. It has articles on climate change and agriculture; Fukuvoka, who advocated natural farming, and Development of agriculture and Watershed Development.

Each diary costs Rs. 130. Those interested in buying may contact Mr. Nagaraju, Commissionerate of Agriculture, Sheshadri Road, Bangalore – 560 001.

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