The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : Conservation agriculture congress in Delhi

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Sunday, Jan 18, 2009
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Conservation agriculture congress in Delhi

Staff Reporter

Kochi: New Delhi will host the fourth world congress on conservation agriculture from February 4 to February 7. Addressing the media at the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) here on Saturday, S. Ayyappan, Deputy Director General (Fisheries) in Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), said that the congress would deliberate on the innovations in agriculture for realising improved efficiency, equity and environment.

The conference is expected to have about 1,000 delegates representing the scientific community, policy advisers, farmers’ organisations, corporate leaders and voluntary organisations.

“Even before the concept of conservation agriculture came about, farmers in India had practised integrated farming methodologies.

But the agricultural land area remained 142 billion hectares. Cropping intensity hasn’t gone beyond 130 per cent.

Water quality has gone down. So it is important for us to see that productivity per unit area goes up and that there is sustainability of operations,” said Mr. Ayyappan.

He said the congress would review global research and development efforts in conservation agriculture and document certain successful adoption models of technologies that could be customised for the Indian environment.

India already had more than 2 million hectares of area under rice-wheat system in the Indo-Gangetic plain under resource cultivation technologies. Conservation agriculture was being practised on 2 lakh hectares in Andhra Pradesh as well. “Farmers who adopted these technologies are saving water and energy costs, attaining high yields and are getting more returns,” he said.

Exhibition

An agro-tech exhibition would be held with participation from research institutions, private players and voluntary organisations, said T. P. Trivedi, Project Director, Directorate of Information and Publications of Agriculture under the ICAR.

B. Meenakumari, Director of the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, said the institute had developed fishing crafts using rubber wo od and coconut wood that cou ld aptly replace traditional wo od crafts made of forest wood.

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