Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has advocated the need for ground-based research in agriculture universities instead of campus-oriented research.
The Chief Minister was speaking after inaugurating the World Bank-aided national-level REWARD project and the Watershed Centre of Excellence on the GKVK campus of the University of Agricultural Sciences-Bengaluru on Sunday.
“Karnataka has 10 agro-climatic zones and we are producing diverse crops like ragi, jowar, pepper, coffee. Nature has been generous to Karnataka. The Agriculture Department should evolve scientific schemes to suit these agro-climatic zones. It should integrate agroforestry, horticulture and dairy farming with agriculture,” he suggested.
Commenting on the concerns over spurious seeds, the Chief Minister said more vigil was needed to curb the menace of spurious seeds.
Stressing the need for groundwater recharge, Mr. Bommai pointed out that the Prime Minister had launched the Amrit Sarovar Mission project to rejuvenate at least 75 irrigation ponds in a district. It would be successfully implemented in the State, he said.
