Improving Rural Connectivity Infra. would Help in Effective Sugarcane Technology Transfer, says Experts

ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore organized a stakeholder workshop on ‘Digital Inclusion of Rural Youth’ in Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu on 10.3.2021.​ Inaugurating the ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore – organized stakeholder workshop on ‘Digital Inclusion of Rural Youth’ at Rajshree Sugars & Chemicals Ltd. Mundiyampakkam, Dr. Sibnath Deb, Director, Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development, Sriperumpudur, in his address said that the digital divide between rural and urban areas is still large which could be bridged only by improving the rural connectivity infrastructure.

Lack of ICT access and lack of digital competency may lead to digital exclusion of sugarcane farmers, he added. Dr. G.Hemaprabha, Director of ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute in her Presidential address listed out the efforts of ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute in the field of agricultural communication since its establishment in 1912.

Mentioning that over 65 % of the Indian population is under 35 years of age, she said that young farmers should also turn entrepreneurs for getting increased profits.

Mentioning that this workshop is being organized as part of the Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development-funded research project on “Digital Inclusion of Rural Youth – a comparative assessment”, Dr. D. Puthira Prathap, Principal Scientist and Principal Investigator of the project, in his address, said that the project was implemented in Sivaganga and Villupuram, which have been identified as backward districts and in Tirunelveli and Erode, which have been identified as non-backward districts of Tamil Nadu.

Recalling that some of the earliest ICT projects like the Warana Wired village project, of 1998, had targeted the sugarcane growers of Maharashtra, he said that organizing similar workshops would assist the e-Inclusion initiatives targeting the rural youth, who live in remote, rural and economically backward locations of the country.

G.N.Renganathan, Head (Extension), Rajshree Sugars & Chemicals Ltd., S.Jayaram, DGM (R&D) Rajshree Sugars & Chemicals Ltd.,  and J.Uthandi, GM, Sakthi Sugars Ltd. also spoke on the occasion.

Young sugarcane farmers of Rajshree Sugars & Chemicals Ltd., Villupuram district participated in the workshop in physical mode while those belonging to Sakthi Sugars Ltd, Sivaganga district had participated online.

Workshop participants shared their experiences in using digital tools while the experts made the youth aware of the recent sources of digital information.

The technical session of the workshop had a farmer- development personnel-scientist interactive session and was handled by experts from the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, State Department of Agriculture, ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Rajshree Sugars & Chemicals, M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Reliance Foundation and Mitra Foundation. All the workshop participants were given the seed material of the recently released Co 11015 cane variety.