Telangana Minister of Agriculture Shri Niranjan Reddy Lays Foundation Stone for Kanha Centre of Excellence for Agriculture

• CoE to offer practical, concrete, and sustainable solutions in Agriculture to farmers in more than 30 villages around Kanha Shanti Vanam.
• The initiative is supported by Vanashanti FPC and Samunnati Foundation with Heartfulness

HYDERABAD: Heartfulness Institute collaborates with Samunnati Foundation to establish a robust state-of-the-art innovation hub viz., Kanha Centre of Excellence for Agriculture, to offer pragmatic, actionable, and sustainable agricultural solutions to farmers in the villages around Kanha Shanti Vanam. The Foundation Stone of the CoE was laid by Hon’ble Minister of Agriculture, Shri Singireddy Niranjan Reddy, Govt. of Telangana at the Kanha Shanti Vanam, the global headquarters for Heartfulness on 29th April. Besides Samunnati Foundation, Vanashanti FPC has also come forward to support the initiative.

The Centre of Excellence also has a Farmer Produce Collection Centre. It has been designed to support and encourage farming communities to build a mutually beneficial relationship between the farming communities and Kanha FPO. Farmers from at least 13 villages out of the 32 villages around the collection center have already been participating in the collection center. Out of these, four villages showed large participation in the collection center owing to the vicinity to the center.

Speaking on the occasion Shri Niranjan Reddy said,

“Farmers are the primary food givers to the society. If it were not for them, we would be incapable of feeding our families. They need the necessary infrastructure and better agricultural tools and facilities for easier processes and higher yield. It is very heart-warming to see that Heartfulness is piloting something on these lines with the much-needed machinery and tools. By Samunnati Foundation and Vanashanti FPC joining hands with Kanha, they can be assured of the right knowledge-transfer, agricultural know-how and making lives of the farmers easier and lead to better produce.”

Daaji, the Guide of Heartfulness added,

“Heartfulness and Kanha Shanti Vanam aim to be the harbingers of improving the lives of farmers by bringing modern-day tools and agricultural practices. We have established a solar grid system and solar-powered cold storage unit as well to emphasize sustainability and utilizing renewable resources. As an agricultural country, India needs to adopt and mandate practices that are encouraging to the farmers and help them harvest better yields every year. We are particularly glad that Samunnati Foundation and Vanashanti FPC have joined hands with us in this regard.”

The Heartfulness team at Kanha has offered immense cooperation in terms of the infrastructural development, especially seen near the Maddur gate. As part of establishing a big German tent for the functioning of the Farmer Producer Collection Centre and a cement platform for the Farmer Development Centre (FDC). Samunnati Foundation also joined hands with Rare Agro and established a Solar dryer Unit for post-harvest activities. The center also showcases a solar dryer at the Maddur gate at Kanha Shantivanam.

Some of the activities in recent months at the CoE involved harvesting, post-harvest activities, and engaging with buyers for the crops as part of the Agri demo farm. A solar-powered cold storage unit and solar grid system have been established at the center. Also, more outreach activities were rolled out for the collection center to benefit the farmers. Soil testing activities were undertaken as part of the Agri demonstration farm. Further collaboration with partners to enable the farmers to better Agri practices as a value addition from the COE has been planned.

source https://nrinews24x7.com/telangana-minister-of-agriculture-shri-niranjan-reddy-lays-foundation-stone-for-kanha-centre-of-excellence-for-agriculture/

April 29, 2022