Kochi, 12 Oct 2023 |ANN

A farmer – scientist interface was organized on Thursday as a part of the 16th Agricultural Science Congress at Kochi.

Speaking during the interaction, Sabarmatee, a farmer-activist from Odisha said, agriculture is getting more complex and challenging with the growth of technology but it must make the farmer free from external dependence.

She said farmers were the best scientists as they have been experimenting with and validated farming practices and quality of seeds, and have provided traditional knowledge of weather and farming conditions.

She also emphasized to make farming more women-friendly.

“More collaborative research is needed. Farmers’ indebtedness has to be reduced and unexplored areas have to be explored because the biodiversity is huge,” she added.

Ms Sabaramatee’s got the Nari Shakti Puraskar in 2018 and the Padma Shri in 2020.

Cheruvayal Raman from Wayanad also known as the protector and preserver of local rice varieties, told the gathering of farmers and scientists that he distributed rice seeds to farmers free of cost because seeds were not to be sold but handed over to the next generation for preservation.

Padma Shri awardee Seth Pal Singh, a farmer from Uttar Pradesh, said his life changed after he came in contact with farmer leader Indrajit Tomar, who asked him to diversify crops for which he took help from the Krishi Vigyan Kendra.

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