Krishi-Thotagarike Mela focuses on drought management
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Visitors at the Krishi-Thotagarike-Mela organised by Keladi Shivappa Nayaka University of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences in Shivamogga on Friday. | Photo Credit: S.K. Dinesh
The four-day Krishi-Thotagarike Mela, organised by Keladi Shivappa Nayaka University of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences (KSNUAHS), focuses on drought management. With severe drought affecting the farming community, the university has chosen “innovative agriculture for drought management” as this year’s theme.
The university has set up a special pavilion with educational models for farmers seeking ways to tackle drought. Experts and scholars from various university departments are on hand to offer suggestions. The models show how farmers can harvest and conserve water and manage the available water judiciously.
Director of Extension Raghavendra K. Mesta said the focus of the event was drought management. “This year, our State is facing severe drought, and farmers are in difficulty. To boost their morale, we have come up with suggestions on the crop pattern, the suitable varieties to choose and how to look after them in adverse conditions. We have opened a cell to listen to farmers’ problems and redress them. Besides, we are conducting technical sessions by experts on drought management,” he said.
The models include a borewell-recharge model, integrated farming, rainwater harvesting, agroforestry, dryland horticulture and water-management models for dryland agriculture. S.M. Jayaprakash, Professor and Head of the Department of Soil Sciences, said the models showcase ways to conserve water and use it judiciously in drylands. “These models educate the farmers visiting the exhibition on handling the drought”, he said.
About 600 agriculture and agri-related stalls have been set up. They include stalls for farm machinery, pesticides and other agricultural inputs, exhibition stalls of self-help groups under the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM), and stalls of KAPPEC and NABARD. About 60 food stalls have also been set up.
Shivamogga MP B.Y. Raghavendra on Friday expressed displeasure over the posters and hoardings put up for the Krishi-Thotagarike Mela on the Navile campus of Keladi Shivappa Nayaka University of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences (KSNUAHS), saying they did not follow protocol.
When he arrived at the campus, Vice-Chancellor M.V. Dhananjaya and other officials welcomed him. The MP declined the bouquet and took the officials to task for displaying only the photographs of the Agriculture Minister and the District In-charge Minister on the campus.
“I am not bothered about the posters put up by Congress workers outside the campus. But within the campus, you should treat all elected representatives equally. Are you converting the campus into a Congress office?” he asked.
The Vice-Chancellor and other officials said they would put up hoardings carrying the photographs of the elected representatives of the area.
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