Agriculture Minister P. Prasad has said that the Centre of Excellence in Horticulture and Floriculture, the first such initiative in the State, will make a core change in the agriculture sector in Wayanad.
Inaugurating the institution at Amabalavayal here on Tuesday, Mr. Prasad said the centre could produce all vegetables and floriculture saplings for farmers in the entire State.
The Centre has been set up by the State Horticulture Mission (SHM) in association with the Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS) and the Agriculture department.
All possible steps would be adopted to expand floriculture in the district, the Minister said, adding that training programmes would be conducted at the centre for the purpose.
An emergency meeting would be convened soon to discuss issues pertaining to agriculture, including low prices for farmer products like banana in the market, the Minister said.
Mr. Prasad said farmers should follow multi-crop cultivation, and that the Agriculture department would provide opportunities to select farmers to learn more about modern agricultural practices.
Since Wayanad is quite suitable for millet cultivation, farmers should take initiatives for it, the Minister said.
Collective efforts should be made to attain self-sufficiency in vegetable production, Mr. Prasad said. He also inaugurated the common facility centre, Dutch and Indian poly-houses, a nursery unit, shade net houses, a fertigation unit, and a training centre.
Inaugurating a State-level function for disbursing drones and agriculture implements to farmer producer organisations and farmers’ collectives at Valliyurkavu near Mananthavady, Mr. Prasad said the Agriculture department was adopting steps to pay arrears of agriculture insurance to farmers.
The department had also drafted policies to mitigate man-animal conflict, Mr. Prasad added.
