The University of Horticultural Sciences organised a three-day workshop on drought tolerance and horticulture for dry land areas in Bagalkot. The event ended on Saturday.
Member of Legislative Assembly G.T. Patil, who spoke at the valedictory funtcion, urged farmers to give up dependence on chemical fertilizers and shift gradually to natural farming.
He also urged university professors and scientists to dedicate more time for research and development and extension activities so that farmers adopt advanced technology quickly.
“I am not very happy with the way the university has progressed in terms of improving the lives of farmers. A farm university’s success lies in promoting science and technology among farmers and not just in producing more graduates and post-graduates,” he said.
Member of Legislative Council P.H. Pujar also expressed similar sentiments. “Establishing universities alone should not be an achievement of the State government. It is the impact that they make, that is more important. Scientists should guide farmers in battling diseases, improving their output and getting remunerative prices for their produce,” he said.
Member of Legislative Assembly H.Y. Meti asked scientists to work towards meeting the expectations of farmers.
The guests gave away awards to progressive horticulture farmers, including T.N. Ravi from Kolar, M.N. Venkat Reddy of Chikkaballapur, Sharada Valmiki of Uttara Kannada, Mallappa Kumbar of Bagalkot, Chandrashekar Malipatil of Bidar, Parashuram Bommanalli of Kalaburagi, Basavaraj Vandali of Yadgiri and Shivanand Manganavar of Vijayapura.
Awards were also given to Beerappa Pujer, Paramanand Halli, Irappa Gani, Shivappa Subbannavar, Fakirappa Madar and Mahantesh Nadagoudar.
University officials and others were present.
