KOCHI: At a time when the farmers of the country are reeling under natural calamities and suffer the impacts of climate change, scientists should assist them in risk management, extending a higher level of advisory help and standing by them to develop ‘climate-smart-villages’
The Village Resource Centres should become counseling centres as well to avoid farmers’ suicides, agricultural scientists and experts were urged at the national review workshop being held here as part of the National Innovations on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) on Thursday.
Inaugurating the national review workshop, Dr S Ayyappan, Director General of Indian Council for Agriculture Research (ICAR), stressed the need for the scientists to work with the farmers and help them finding a solution to their woes. “Even one (farmer’s) suicide is unacceptable,” he opined.
Scientists should tell farmers that “we are with you.” The village resource centres should work not only as extension centres of technology but also as counseling centres to instil confidence in farmers who are the receiving end of climate change and natural calamities, the ICAR Director General exhorted. He also mooted extension of technology and agricultural innovations to make Indian villages ‘climate-smart’.
The two-day workshop hosted by Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) here will review the progress of the NICRA aimed at enhancing the resilience of Indian agriculture, covering crops, livestock and fisheries to climatic variability and climate change. The workshop will conclude on Friday.