Exposing the peasant community to innovative agricultural technologies and new farming practices, the Indian Institute of Spices Research (IISR), Calicut, organised a kisan mela and showcasing of technologies under the NAIP sub-project on Mobilising Mass Media Support for Sharing Agro-Information during February 8-12, 2010.

The event, titled Karshika Sankethika Darshanam 2010, was held at the institute’s experimental farm located at Peruvannamuzhi of Kozhikode district.
The main event of Farmers Meet was held on 8th February under the chairmanship of Dr. V A Parthasarathy, Director, IISR Calicut.

The event was formally inaugurated by the Kozhikode District Panchayath President Mr. K P Kunjammed Kutty Master. In his inaugural address, he stressed the need of mechanisation and adoption of innovative agricultural technologies for making agriculture a commercially viable option. "Traditional agricultural methods alone won't help farmers to increase yield. Once the agricultural research results are transferred to the farming community, it will contribute to the agricultural development in the country," he opined. Research institutes should be able to foresee potential threats that may be faced by the farming community well in advance and find out solutions to solve them, he added.

In his presidential address, Dr. Parthasarathy said that there are concerns over the technology fatigue in agriculture and horticulture, especially in the area of transfer of technology. He also requested the farming community to follow the package of practices suggested by the Institutes to solve various problems faced by them.

"The mass media, especially newspapers with dedicated pages for agriculture have been playing a key role in transferring these agricultural technologies to the farming community," added Dr. Parthasarathy.

The farmers meet and showcasing was organised in collaboration with the Krishi Vigyan Kendra of the institute at Peruvannamuzhi, Kozhikode.

Dr. S Prabhukumar, Zonal Project Director, KVKs, Banglore, delivered the key note address. He stressed on the need for a business centric approach towards farming. "Agriculture has to be changed from a way of life to a way of business" he said adding that "our farmers should be made aware of the quality improvement of their products in order to compete in the international market." He also said that various Krishi Vigyan Kendras spread across the country play a pivotal role in guiding farmers to adopt innovative technologies developed by various state and central research organisations. Equal importance must be given to technologies developed by farmers. Kerala is the first state to have KVKs in all the districts and we have to work in micro levels to bring more results, he added.

Shri. Nagesh Kumar, Assistant General Manager, NABARD; Dr. M Tamil Selvan, Director, Directorate of Arecanut and Spices Development (DASD), Calicut, Mr. B M Muhammed, Deputy Director, State Horticultural Mission, Dr. M M Mathai, Deputy Director, District Animal Husbandry Office, Calicut, Mr. James Edacheril, President, Vishwamithra Vikas Vahini Club, Chakkittapara and Ms. Sujatha Manakkal, President, Chakkittpara Grama Pachayath felicitated.

Dr. T John Zachariah, Principal Scientist, IISR briefed the audience about the NAIP project on Mobilising Mass Media Support for Sharing Agro-Information. Dr. P A Mathew, Head, IISR Experimental Farm welcomed the gathering and Dr. P K Prakash, Subject Matter Specialist, KVK proposed a vote of thanks.

Various award winning farmers from the state, Abraham Mathew, P A Francis, Jojo Jacob, K J Jose and Danish Majeed were also felicitated in the function. The award winners also shared their experience during the mela. Subject Experts from various ICAR institutes answered farmers queries related to agriculture, horticulture, fisheries and animal husbandry.

Around 250 farmers from the district attended the function. Nearly 20 participants, including Indian Institute of Spices Research (IISR) Kozhikode, Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI) Kasargod, Central Tuber Crops Research Institute (CTCRI) Thiruvananthapuram, Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) Kochin, Directorate of Cashew Research, Puthur, Karnataka, National Seeds Corporation, Palakkad, Subischa, Kozhikode, RAIDCO, COD Thamarasseri, Kudumbasree Mission, Agro-green, KVK Self Help Groups, etc. set up stalls exhibiting their technologies and products.

Apart from the general public, around 900 farmers and one thousand school students visited the stalls.