Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan watering a sapling during the inauguration of the Farmersโ Day celebrations in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday underscored the need to explore smart farming options for optimum yield and to lessen the impact on the environment in the context of climate change.
Inaugurating the Farmersโ Day celebrations here on the occasion of Chingam 1, Mr. Vijayan outlined a three-pronged approach to smart farming that is focussed on productivity increase, an adaptation process involving resilient agriculture, and reduce the impact of agriculture on the environment.
โWe need to recognise that certain interventions in the agriculture sector have an adverse impact on the environment. Farmers should recognise them and avoid them,โ he said, stressing the complementary nature of agriculture and environment.
Crop loss data
Crop loss data for the current year best illustrate the impact climate change has had on the Stateโs farm sector, he said. The drought-like scenario and heatwave conditions during February-May caused a direct loss of โน257 crore and indirect loss in excess of โน118 crore, affecting 56,947 farmers. Losses on account of the heavy rainfall that followed was provisionally pegged at โน160 crore. In all, 51,231 farmers were affected.
Mr. Vijayan underscored the need for environment-friendly drainage and irrigation systems at the local level, which could, to an extent, prevent soil erosion and landslips. The emerging climate scenario also demands a thorough overhaul of the traditional farm calendar, he said.
Agriculture Minister P. Prasad, who presided, said the government would soon launch a new scheme aimed at achieving self-sufficiency in vegetable production. The Agriculture department will launch the scheme in collaboration with other departments, he said.
Arranging land
The Chief Minister presented the State Farm Awards to the winners. He also launched the โKathirโ app (short for โKerala Agriculture Technology Hub and Information Repositoryโ) which offers various farm-related services on a single digital platform, and the โNew Agriculture Wealth Opportunities – Driving Horticulture and Agribusiness Networking (NAWO-DHAN) aimed at arranging land for individuals or groups for farming.
