Shobha Karandlaje: Karnataka's Horticulture and Agricultural Institutions Should Unite

Shobha Karandlaje, the Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmer Welfare, said on Friday that she proposed the state's agricultural and horticulture institutions be merged.

Shobha stated, "I have provided my view to the state government." "I feel that combining these sciences under one varsity will aid in the development of an integrated strategy to ensure the welfare of the farming community."

Shobha also suggested establishing a directorate to oversee the operations of the agricultural, horticulture, and fisheries sectors. "We will be able to implement new technological procedures by merging both agriculture and horticulture universities," she added.

Farmers would gain if the state's agricultural and horticulture sectors were assigned to a single minister, according to Shobha.

"While one minister must be in charge of both ministries, another must be in charge of managing the sericulture, animal husbandry, and fisheries departments," she explained.

According to Shobha, the state government has been urged by the central government to create strategies for agricultural recovery in each district. "This would assist the Union government in implementing numerous initiatives," Shobha added, criticizing the Commerce and Industries Ministry's reluctance to adopt a more aggressive agricultural export policy.

The central government was formulating a plan to export millets to other nations after acknowledging the benefits of millets consumption on one's health, she added. "Uttarakhand, Haryana, and Karnataka are three states with significant millet yields.

We're excited to market it across India and sell it to places where people care about their health," Shobha said, adding that the country was importing edible oil in significant quantities, demanding an increase in the area utilised for oilseed farming.