Workshop on Promoting Sustainable Organic Agriculture and Setting up Agribusiness
The workshop, held on 12th September 2024, was designed specifically for students, by ICDA 2024 in collaboration with the UBL Cell of the Faculty of Agriculture. This featured presentations from ICDA 2024 speakers and experts from the Agriculture Sector Modernization Project (ASMP), Northern Province. It was organized as a knowledge-sharing session and funded by ASMP. In total, 110 students were participated from 3rd and 4th years.
Following registration, Prof. S. Vasantharuba delivered the opening remarks. The first session was led by Prof. S. Praneetha, Professor of Horticulture at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, India, who discussed organic practices for coconut and vegetable crops. This was followed by a session on climate-resilient crop improvement technologies for fruit crops, with a special focus on papaya, conducted by Prof. J. Auxcilia, also from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University. Next, Mr. K. Keerthikan, Provincial Program Officer of ASMP, presented on integrating modern agricultural practices into organic farming, followed by a lively discussion.
After lunch, Mr. Sandiford R. Edwards, Director of the Caribbean Agriculture Productivity Improvement Activity in Grenada, led a session on developing successful ideas for collaboration in agribusiness startups. The final session of the day was delivered by Prof. E. Somasundaram, Director of Agribusiness Development and Professor of Agronomy at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, who discussed strategies for making organic agriculture profitable. The event was hosted by Miss S. Dilogi, Assistant Lecturer, Department of Agricultural Biology, Faculty of Agriculture. The workshop concluded with a discussion and wrapped up at 4:00 PM.
