Reported on: 2023-10-11

Department of Botany, Farook College (Autonomous), Kozhikode At Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS), Anakkayam, Manjeri 11 October 2023 (Wednesday) A one day Hands on Training Programme on Horticultural Techniques was organized and conducted by Department of Botany, Farook College (Autonomous) on October 11, 2023 at Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS), Anakkayam, Manjeri, as part of the social responsibility initiative of the department. About 13 local residents, which included retired professors, alumni members, Kudumbasree members, 4 faculty members, including teaching and non-teaching staff, and 20 students, participated in the programme.

The team reached Anakkayam at 9.25 a.m. Ms. Jaseela P., assistant professor at RARS, welcomed the gathering. After that, there was a field visit. The visited areas included vermicomposting units, vegetable gardens, scion banks, water harvesting systems, hardening chambers, mist chambers, etc. After the field visit, the inaugural session started at 11 a.m. Dr. Kishore Kumar delivered the welcome speech. Dr. Musthafa Kunnathadi, station director at RARS, gave an introduction to the station. The inaugural session was followed by the technical session on vegetative propagation, which included different types of grafting, layering, budding, and tissue culture, handled by Dr. Jaseela P., Assistant Professor, RARS. The post-lunch session was the practical class taken by Sri Jubail E., farm superintendent, RARS. Following this, the practical training session was handled by Mr. Sundaran, gardener, RARS. All the participants were supplied with root stocks and scions, and they practiced the different methods of grafting and budding. The session came to an end by 4 p.m. The team started their return journey at 5:00 p.m. and reached Farook College at 6:00 p.m.In the feedback session, all the participants opined that the programme was very effective and that they were really motivated to put such techniques into practice. Hence, it could be concluded that the programme was a great success, fulfilling all its objectives.