The Hindu Business Line : `Farm practices must be market-driven'

All the R&D activities of TNAU were being given market-oriented focus of late.
Net crop area has declined in the past 10 years from 3 million hectares to 2.7.
Net irrigated area has also decreased from 90 per cent to 70 per cent largely due to diversion of irrigation water.

Dr C. Ramasamy

Coimbatore , Sept. 8

Today's agriculture practices need to shift gear from production-led to market-driven as farm diversification has to match consumer interests, according to Dr C. Ramasamy, Vice-Chancellor, Tamil Nadu Agriculture University (TNAU).

Farm management covering crucial elements such as land preparation, soil and water management is therefore to synchronise to grow crops of quality that market would prefer, the TNAU Vice-Chancellor said while inaugurating the 7th edition of the `Agri Intex 2006', the international agricultural exhibition here on Friday.

It was only in this background, Dr Ramasamy said all the research and development activities of TNAU were being given market-oriented focus of late.

Unlike industrial/manufacturing sectors, the issue of instability due to factors such as weather changes and monsoon failures is inbuilt in agriculture and the latter is also faced with challenges like dwindling water/soil resources impacting on the final production.

The net crop area, for example in Tamil Nadu, has kept declining and in the past 10 years, it has fallen from three million hectares to 2.7 million hectares. So is also the net irrigated area, which has decreased from 90 per cent level to 70 per cent largely due to diversion of irrigation water to industrial/urban consumption.

The TNAU is also exploring the techno-economic viability of bringing cotton crop under drip irrigation with proper micro nutrient management to achieve higher productivity, the Vice-Chancellor said, adding that the trials were in progress using the winter cotton crop and by March next, the results of the experiments would be known.

The six-day `Agri Intex' exhibition organised by the Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (Codissia) has attracted over 200 participants/firms and businesses related to farm technology, horticulture, farm equipment including irrigation tools, animal husbandry, agricultural engineering and agro energy equipment manufacture. TNAU is the co-sponsor of the fair.

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