Date:04/06/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/06/04/stories/2009060454510300.htm

Kerala - Thrissur

Mobile rice clinics to boost paddy production

Staff Reporter

Agriculture Minister to inaugurate the clinics today

— Photo: K. K. Najeeb

Novel initiative: Mobile rice clinics to be launched by the Kerala Agricultural University on Thursday.

Thrissur: The Kerala Agricultural University and the Agriculture Department will launch three mobile rice clinics under the Paddy Mission programme to help farmers in tackling the tackle technical problems associated with paddycultivation.

Agriculture Minister Mullakkara Ratnakaran will launch the clinics at KAU on Thursday 9:30 a.m. Farmers may consult the clinic on pest and disease control, and use of fertilizers. The clinic has facilities for soil testing and diagnosis of pests and diseases. The clinics that will cater to southern and central districts will be located at the Rice Research Station at Mankombu and the Regional Agricultural Research Station at Pattambi, respectively.

The clinic for northern districts will operate from the College of Agriculture at Pandanakkad in Kasaragod. The mobile rice clinics project is being implemented with assistance from the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana. The Yojana has given Rs.5 crore to the university to implement projects.

The main objective of the Paddy Mission programme, headed by P.V. Balachandran, Associate Director of Research, has been to convert fallow land to paddy farms, and promote upland rice. About 15,000 hectares of fallow land in the State had been converted to paddy fields in the past one year .