Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (HB)

Udupi, Feb 7: The annual agricultural fest 'Raita Samavesha-2021', organized by district Krishika Sangha, was inaugurated on Sunday, February 7 at Sharadha Kalyana Mantapa, Udupi.

CEO of Udupi zilla panchayat, Naveen Bhat inaugurated the convention. Speaking on the occasion Bhat said, "Successful agriculturists should undertake more experiments to motivate other farmers. Let us convert barren land in the district into agricultural land with the support of the government. Only then can Udupi come out as a successful farming district in the state. Let us work to achieve this goal."

"Udupi district is a model for many new initiatives and pilot projects. The district Krishika Sangha is one such model and is involved in promoting agriculture and educating the farmers. It is not just the responsibility of the government, but the Farmers’ associations as well. More scientific experiments should come up in agriculture in order to make the sector a success," he added.

"The Farmers’ association is planning to create 5,000 model farmers in days to come. Many people are coming to Udupi from across the nation to study on SLRM or techniques to segregate waste. Likewise, my desire is that, if we create 5,000 farmers, the whole Karnataka will turn towards Udupi and we will have an influx of people from different parts of the country keen on learning the subject. A farmer should think of how to make agriculture a profitable business? The Farmers of this century are doing unconventional methods of farming. Once their yield or crop gets branding, their produce will get value," he said.

Another main speaker Shridhar K S, famous thinker and retired lecturer from Theerthahalli said, "Farming is the culture of India and its philosophy. It includes worshipping the nature and the Panch Tatvas (five principles) philosophically. Post Independence, the structure of education and agriculture has not been changed."

"The failures in farming and farmer suicides are increasing. The agriculture sector is complicated and it is not easy to survive in this field," he added.

Ramakrishna Sharma Bantakallu, district president of Krishika Sangha presided over the programme.

Farmers’ association felicitated the successful farmers, Uday Kumar Acharya from Hiriadka, Raghunath Punar from Belman, Sujatha Shetty from Mandarthi, John Ammanna from Mudarangadi, Vishwanath Amin from Kalathur.

Ravindra Gujjarbettu, secretary of the Sangha delivered the keynote address. Srinivas Bhat Kudi presented the annual report.

Srinivas Ballal, Mallampalli, vice president of the Sangha, Gopalkrishna Samaga, AGM, Karnataka branch regional office, Udupi, Dr Kempegowda, joint agriculture director, Rn MPHF Manjunath Upadhya, former assistant governor of Rotary and others were present.

There were three sessions held at the event, related to animal husbandry, organic farming, jasmine farming and so on. However, amid the pandemic, the exhibition was not organized.   

Sheembra Ravindra Poojary compered the programme.