The two-day regional workshop on horticulture to address issues related to horticulture in southern States and Union Territories commenced in Kochi on Thursday. Priya Ranjan, Joint Secretary, Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture, inaugurated the workshop.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Ranjan stressed the need for innovation and adoption of modern technologies for sustained development of the horticulture sector. He said issues related to climate change should be addressed to ensure availability of quality planting material and remunerative returns to farmers.
He invited project proposals from States to enhance the scalability of the various schemes with the participation of progressive farmers.
Prabhat Kumar, Horticulture Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer of the Coconut Development Board, said there was a need for integrating food security with nutritional security for achieving sustainable development. He added that horticultural crops had immense potential for carbon sequestration and were more adaptable to climate change.
Hello Naariyal, call centres for Friends of Coconut Tree, trained manpower for undertaking cultivation and harvesting operations in coconut, was launched on Thursday during the workshop. K.B. Hebbar, Director, Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, and Vice Chairman of Coconut Development Board, spoke, said a press release.
