The Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) is gearing up to open a Horticulture College at its Regional Agriculture Research Station (RARS) at Ambalavayal in Wayanad.
The proposed college would be set up by utilising the existing infrastructure facilities of the RARS and the varsity Senate had sanctioned its final approval for the college recently, KAU sources said.
The varsity is planning to launch a self-financing four-year B.Sc. Hon. Degree course in horticulture at the proposed college from the next academic year. Apart from the degree course, postgraduate programmes in horticulture and allied subjects and advanced training programmes in horticulture crops and hi-tech farming for farmers were also on the anvil, sources said.
“The mild sub-tropical climate in the district is quite suitable for horticulture and floriculture crops but the farming community is yet to tap the vast potential, thanks to the dearth of technologies. So, technological interventions have been planned by the varsity,” P. Rajendran, Associate Director of Research, RARS, told The Hindu .
“The Research Station, established in 1946 and taken over by the KAU in 1972, is spread over 87.03 hectares of fertile land with facilities such as office buildings, farm office, store rooms, tissue culture lab, fruits and vegetables processing unit, nursery and gardens, and model gardens of all horticulture crops,” Dr. Rajendran said.
“The station’s activities not only benefit the farming community in Wayanad, but also the farmers of adjoining districts – Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod - and the neighbouring States like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu,” Dr. Smitha Revi, Assistant Professor, Agriculture Entomology, RARS, said.
