Governor calls for awareness drive on food safety

Kerala will strive to become bio-agriculture State by 2016, says Minister

Governor P. Sathasivam has called for an awareness drive among people on the harmful impact of pesticides. He was addressing the valedictory session of the two-day Global Agro Meet, organised by the agriculture department in association with the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) and the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) here on Friday.

Pointing out that the State was yearning to become an organic farming State, he said farmers should be made competent to market their produce globally. Quality consciousness, high productivity and value addition were essential to make farming globally competitive. He said the farmers were in distress though the State had many advantages in the agricultural arena. He also underlined the need for schemes to be evolved by the government to offer necessary support system to the farmers.

Kerala will strive to become a bio-agriculture State by 2016, Minister for Agriculture K.P. Mohanan said. The government planned to give cash awards to panchayats to become eco-friendly.

Noting that Kerala has the potential to attract large scale investment in agriculture and food processing sectors, he said single window system would be introduced for enterprises in agriculture so that entrepreneurs could collect the licences and set up the venture. He also called for focus on paddy farming.

Earlier at the meet, Irrigation Minister P.J. Joseph underlined the need for methods to increase agricultural productivity. The Minister said there was a need for focus on horticulture. Homesteads should be able to produce vegetables for their own use.

Officials of the State Department of Agriculture have an important role to play in the implementation of new food safety standards, said S. Dave, Advisor, Food Safety and Standard Authority of India.