Credit: DH Photo
On day three of the Krishi Mela - 2024 organised by the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS) in Bengaluru, progressive farmers, including women, from Hassan, Mandya and Tumkur districts were conferred district- and taluk-level awards for their achievements in agriculture.
The four-day mela has been holding award ceremonies featuring different districts each day. The third day saw a footfall of 10.25 lakh including farmers and visitors at the event.
As many as 146 farmers have been chosen as awardees at state-, district- and taluk-levels. Six awards at the state level were conferred to farmers from all over the state. Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda State-Level Best Farmer Award was conferred on C R Radhakrishna from Chikkaballapur, Dr M H Marigowda State-Level Best Horticulture Farmer Award to Roopa H P from Doddaballapur, Can Bank State-Level Best Farmer Awards to V S Praveen from Hassan, and Y C Shantamma from Ramanagara, Dr R Dwarakinath Best Farmer Awards to U M Nagavarma from Hassan, and Dr M Shalini, Assistant Professor, GKVK.
About 20 farmers from ten districts that come under UAS were chosen for the district-level awards, while 120 farmers from 61 taluks of these districts were chosen for the taluk-level awards.
On Saturday, dignitaries Dr P G Changappa, retired chancellor of the University of Agriculture, Mahesh B Shirur, Commissioner of the Watershed Development Department, Dr Tushar Kanti Behere, Director of BCSP, and Dr. M.J. Chandra Gowda, Principal Scientist at ICAR-Agricultural Technology Adoption Research Institute, spoke on several issues including the evolving nature of agriculture, global efforts to combat climate change, Karnataka’s prominence in horticulture production and reducing costs through digital tools like weather-based farming and advanced machinery.
Dr S V Suresh, Chancellor, UAS stressed the need to bridge the communication gap between farmers and scientists. With only 30 per cent of technologies reaching farmers, he emphasised the aim of the Krishi Mela to facilitate technology transfer. Climate-smart innovations, drought-tolerant crops, and integrated water management were highlighted as key to doubling farmers’ income.