Vice-Chancellor of the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Dharwad, R.R. Hanchinal said the research conducted by scientists from the university had proved that organic farming ensured more productivity than chemical farming in rain-fed areas.

Presiding over the inaugural session of the two-day State-level workshop on ‘Plant protection in organic farming’ on the university campus here on Tuesday, Prof. Hanchinal said the outcome of a recent comparative study on organic and chemical farming showed that the former was useful for farmers in rain-fed areas. The study indicated that in organic farming, crop yield increases and cost of production decreases. Besides, by providing chemical-free yield, organic farming also helps the economic empowerment of farmers, he said.

Prof. Hanchinal said UAS-Dharwad had created facilities for large-scale production of bio-agents which were essentially required for adopting organic farming.

B.M. Khadi, Director of Research, UAS, Dharwad, said the university had developed organic production technologies for 12 major crops.

Inaugurating the workshop, Bharat Lal Meena, Principal Secretary, Department of Agriculture, stressed the need for agricultural universities and research institutes to focus on transferring the technology that they develop to farmers in remote rural areas. Mr. Meena said such workshops should facilitate exchange of ideas between farmers and scientists. Conservation of soil quality was a major challenge as the pressure on agrarian lands was increasing because of the efforts to enhance the quantity of food production to meet the growing demand of foodgrains. Hence, organic farmers should be told about the requirements of soil and supply of nutrients accordingly, he added.

In organic farming, crop yield increases and cost of production decreases

Transfer technology to farmers in remote rural areas, universities told