Cotton Research Station workshop focuses on preparation for kharif

A pre-kharif season crop workshop was organised for the benefit of farmers of Perambalur and adjoining districts by the Cotton Research Station, Veppanthattai of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), on Saturday.

The workshop included an exhibition of at least 20 stalls showcasing agricultural products and services. A live technical demonstration of cost-saving equipment such as tractor-drawn seed drill sower, boom sprayer, and rotary trash mulcher was conducted for participants.

In his inaugural address, R. Thamizh Vendan, TNAU acting vice-chancellor, said the institution served farmers by developing a technology capsule for complete mechanisation in cotton, including mechanical harvesting. It had developed an integrated approach to management of the Fall Army worm in maize and was widely used by farmers, he said.

K. Subrahmaniyan, director, Tamil Nadu Rice Research Institute, Aduthurai, said that farm mechanisation was must for reducing labour cost and use of the TNAU crop boosters and TNAU varieties for the benefit of farmers.

S. Babu, Joint Director of Agriculture, Perambalur; R.J. Sundhar, Alwar Organic Farming Community, Salem,; and S. Somasundaram, professor and head, Cotton Research Station, Veppanthattai, spoke.