There is a greater relevance for convergence of extension initiatives in the plantation sector for inclusive development, R. Muralidhara Prasad, former Associate Director of Extension, Kerala Agricultural University, has said.
There are many institutions, schemes, and programmes to develop farming and to serve the agrarian sector. However, they work in isolation and there is no convergence, which is viewed as the new mantra of development, Dr. Prasad said.
He was inaugurating a three-day training-cum-workshop on ‘Convergence of extension initiatives in plantation sector for inclusive development’ at the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI) here on Monday.
Institutions working in the plantation sector are now on a common platform, which is the need of the hour, he said. Dr. Prasad said there were many challenges facing agriculture, categorised such as demographic, technological, organisational, ecological and economic. Those situations have to be addressed by the extension system.
Farming has to be considered as an enterprise and extension personnel should facilitate the farmers in this direction, Dr. Prasad added. Presiding over the function, P. Chowdappa, Director, CPCRI said the initiatives taken by the CPCRI achieved convergence in implementing the front-line extension services in coconut, areca nut, and cocoa.
