Ryots upbeat about PJTGAU's ‘scientist at doorstep' programme
Vice-Chancellor of the Professor Jayashankar Telangana Agricultural University (PJTGAU) Aldas Janaiah has stated that there was a positive response from the farming community to the university initiative — Scientists at the Farmers' Doorstep — taken up in collaboration with the Agriculture Department.
He reviewed the progress of the programme, launched at Dharur village in Vikarabad district on May 5. So far, the direct contact meets with farmers were held at 600 revenue villages with about 37,000 farmers, including 6,000 women, where they interacted face-to-face with agricultural scientists and students.
Key aspects
The VC said that farm scientists were focusing on six key aspects – educating farmers on reducing urea usage to minimise cultivation costs, judicious use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to preserve soil health, maintaining receipts for input (seed, fertilizer, pesticides) purchases, conservation of water for irrigation, adopting crop rotation for sustainable income and planting trees to protect the environment.
Prof. Janaiah added that farmers were concerned about changing climate conditions and unseasonal rains, and seeking government support for certain aspects like introduction of a comprehensive crop insurance scheme to mitigate losses due to adverse climate conditions. Provision of modern agricultural tools and green manure seed at subsidised rates and extensive soil testing ahead of Kharif operations were other suggestions.
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