Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar has called for a paradigm shift from production-oriented agriculture to process and product-oriented agriculture.
Speaking after declaring open convocation 2017 of Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) at Mannuthy on Thursday, the Minister, who is also the Pro-Chancellor, exhorted young graduates to take up the responsibility to modernise agriculture through innovation, scientific knowledge, and creative thinking. Agriculture should not be at the cost of environment, it should go hand in hand with nature, he said.
“Agriculture continues to be an important pillar of our economy and its future lies in the efficient use of diminishing natural resources such as land, water and energy. Kerala aims at an agricultural strategy of embracing ‘Good Agricultural Practices’ and a shift from chemically-intensive agriculture. It lays stress on promoting total organic farming,” Mr. Sunil Kumar said.
In his convocation address, Narendra Singh Rathore, Deputy Director General (Education), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), said India was becoming more vulnerable to climate change as cases of extreme weather were on the rise. Majority of the population derived their livelihood from agriculture and allied sectors. The situation, therefore, warranted technological interventions of advanced nature, he said.
Dr. Rathore said that India with only 2.4% of the world’s land resources and 4.6% of water resources supported 18% of the world population through its agriculture system.
A transformation
“This magical transformation from a “ship-to-mouth” existence to a leading exporter of food grains was made possible by advancements in agricultural science and technology triggered by hard work of our farm scientists and farmers,” he said.
Addressing the gathering Vice Chancellor P. Rajendran highlighted the achievements of KAU in education, research and extension.
In all, 454 students received the degrees in person while 47 received them in absentia. K.P. Sudheer, the first KAU scientist to become ICAR national fellow, was honoured at the function. Rank-holders in various courses were presented medals and award certificates.
