| RARS, Pattambi celebrates Platinum Jubilee |
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Shri. A. K. Antony, Chief Minister urged the Kerala
Agricultural University to develop technologies to help the rice farmers in
Kerala to come out of the present crisis. He was inaugurating the valedictory
function of the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations of the Regional Agricultural
Research Station, Pattambi on October 12, 2002. He said that globalization has
to be accepted in reality and we should take advantage of its beneficial
aspects. The technological advances in the field of science such as
biotechnology should be utilized more and more for research in agriculture so as
to boost the agricultural production.
At the function, the Chief Minister
released two rice varieties namely Kunju Kunju Varna and Kunju Kunju
Priya, which were developed with farmers participation. The varieties were
received by Shri K.V. Ramakrishnan, President,
Palakkad District Panchayat. Shri K.Sankaranarayanan, Minister for Finance
presided over the function.
A modern seed store built under the MP’s fund sanctioned by Shri S.Ajayakumar was inaugurated by the MP during the occasion. Shri P.P. Geroge MLA, Executive Committee Member, KAU, Shri K.V. Chandran, MLA., Shri V.K. Chandran, MLA, Shri. V.C. Kabeer MLA, Shri. Kalathil Abdulla and Shri. X. Anil, District Collector, Palakkad offered felicitations. Dr. A.I. Jose, Director of Extension proposed vote of thanks.
Earlier,
inaugurating the national symposium on Priorities and Strategies for Rice
Research in High Rainfall Tropics, organized as a part of the Platinum
Jubilee celebrations, Smt. K.R. Gouri Amma, Minister for Agriculture remarked
that the state can achieve agricultural prosperity only through effective
coordination between the Departments of Agriculture,
Soil Survey, Soil conservation, Land Utilization Board and the KAU.
Shri
C.P. Mohammed, MLA in his presidential address highlighted the
achievements of the Rice Research Station, Pattambi. Dr. K.V. Peter,
Vice-Chancellor gave a brief account of the history and contributions of the station
in the regional, national and international level.
Three
new rice varieties were presented to the farmers during the occasion. Varsha,
a medium duration variety with red rice was released by the Minister. Shri P.P.
George, MLA released a long duration rice variety christened as Swetha. Dr. R. Gopalakrishnan, former Director of Research, KAU
released Gowri, a medium duration variety
developed by the Rice Research Station, Moncompu.
Delivering
the Platinum Jubilee Lecture, Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, the renowned agricultural
scientist recalled the historical developments in rice breeding. He called for
intensive research to meet the challenges on economic, technological,
ecological, equity and ethical dimensions in order to have an evergreen
revolution. He explained the importance of five pillars of productivity viz.,
water, energy, health, agriculture, biodiversity and ecosystem management.
The scientific sessions were attended
by Dr. Mahadevappa, Chairman, QRT (AICRP), Dr. B.N. Singh, Director, CRRI,
Cuttack, Dr. P. Virk, IRRI, Philippines, Dr. B.Misra, Director, DBR, Hyderabad
and other eminent scientists.
A kisan mela was organized as a part of the Platinum Jubilee celebration in which nearly 600 farmers participated. An exhibition was arranged for three days with the participation of the research stations of KAU, private agencies, publishers and farmers’ organizations.