Thiruvananthapuram, Tuesday 28 July 2009: Farmers in need of technical assistance to boost yield, manage pests or control crop diseases can now easily get a helping hand from experts. They just need to pick up the phone and call.

The Regional Agricultural Research Station under the College of Agriculture, Vellayani, is launching a new grassroots initiative to help farmers in need. Named ‘Karshaka Santhwanam,’ the tele- counselling facility is designed to offer quick technical advice on a range of problems faced by farmers. Experts from various departments in the college will offer their services to farmers free of cost.

The first phase of the project is to be launched in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Pathanamthitta districts in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture.

According to V.B. Padmanabhan, Professor, Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture, the project aims at developing agriculture sector by providing scientific solutions to farmers’ problems. “A drawback of the farm sector in Kerala is the failure to address grassroots-level problems of farmers on time. This often forces them to give up farming altogether,” Padmanabhan said.

Timely intervention in the form of technical advice was imperative to boost farmers’ morale.

“The project is designed to utilise the high telephone and mobile phone connectivity in Kerala to reach out to farmers,” he added.

Farmers can access the service at the numbers 0471-2381002 (Ext. 262, 243) or 9495548768. Once the problem is conveyed, scientists from the college will make arrangements to visit the farm and recommend solutions. They will also follow up the service with regular monitoring of the proposed activities.

“Through this project, we hope to extend the research findings of the university to farmers and thereby revive the farm sector,” Padmanabhan said.

Scientists will offer advice on preservation of soil health and water resources, organic farming, planting methods, application of fertilizers, pest control, identification of seeds suited for climate and region, plant protection and marketing of farm produce.

Minister for Agriculture Mullakkara Ratnakaran will inaugurate the project at the 28th regional meeting of the National Agricultural Research Project (NARP) to be held on the college campus on July 30.

The two-day meeting will review research results and farm trials and finalise the programmes to be taken up by the Regional Agricultural Research Station.

An interactive session involving farmers, extension officers and scientists will also be held.