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| Minister for Agriculture R. Vaithilingam inspecting the stall for bananas at Paiyyur research station |
A National Farmers Meet as an interface between farmers, traders and researchers was organised at the Regional Research Station of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University at Paiyyur on Saturday.
The meet on Horticultural Crops 2015, jointly organised under the aegis of TNAU and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, was a first of its kind initiative to boost horticulture and augment value addition to horticultural produce.
Farmers from across the four States of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu participated in the day-long sessions that explored techniques of cultivation and value addition practised in horticulture.
Over 60 scientists from ICAR and TNAU acted as resource persons in the interface on flowers, vegetables, plantation and spices.
The sessions included cultivation aspects of mango that included fruiting, crop regulation, canopy management, spongy tissue, alternate bearing, malformation, pests, diseases and post-harvest handling etc. Similarly, seed production, nutrition, and post-harvest handling for papaya was also discussed.
Focus
Speaking to The Hindu , Prof. Vijay Bhaskaran, Agronomist, Paiyyur Research Station, said the focus was on mango and papaya as the farmers largely from Kolar, Malur and Telengana region cultivated mangoes. Krishnagiri being a significant cultivator of horticultural crops and a reckonable exporter with its hi-tech horticulture, disease, pest and nutrition management of flowers was also a point of focus.
The meet had over 2500 farmers, and horticultural industry persons participating in the day-long sessions.
Stalls put up by ICAR, TNAU and private industrial units included stalls on farm mechanisation, hybrid varieties, and value addition techniques among others.
S. Ayyappan, Director General and Secretary, Directorate of Agriculture and Education, ICAR, was the chief guest.
