ICAR-CCARI organised a Farmer–Scientist Interface on Coastal Agriculture in Kerala

    ICAR-CCARI, Goa, organized a farmer-scientist interface at Kumarakom in collaboration with Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS), Kumarakom under the Scheduled Caste Sub Plan, Govt. of India, on 6 February 2024. The village of Kumarakom is a cluster of little islands on the Vembanad lake and is part of the Kuttanad region. The region is typically low-lying wetlands and is beset with several problems: floods during the monsoons, saline intrusions during the summer, poor soil quality, pests and diseases, low productivity and low economic returns. The programme was chaired by Dr. Parveen Kumar, Director, ICAR-CCARI. He highlighted the challenges of coastal ecosystem and discussed about the technologies developed by the institute to address these challenges. Dr. Sheeba Rebecca Isaac, Associate Director of Research, RARS Kumarakom and Dr. Sreekanth GB, Senior Scientist, ICAR-CCARI were present during the function. Farmers deliberated on their constraints on current farming practices, and the scientists from CCARI and RARS provided the needed guidance and scientific recommendations for the specific problems. The main challenges for farmers are inefficient marketing channel, acidity of the soil, poor soil fertility, diseases, and weed infestations. For small and marginal farmers, the disease incidence is a major bottleneck and the package of practices for preparing sustainable and cost-effective home-made biological controls were provided by the scientists. Thirty-two SC farmers from agriculture and allied sectors participated in the programme. Agricultural inputs such as grafts of horticultural crops, seeds and biocontrol agents were distributed to the farmers. The programme was co-ordinated by Dr. Simi Rose Andrews, Assistant Professor (Aquaculture), Dr. Sini Thomas, Assistant Professor (Plant Physiology) from RARS and Dr Sreekanth GB from CCARI.