Presiding over the fourth national conference of Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) on the topic `KVK as Resource and Knowledge Center for Agricultural Technology’ at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Karunanidhi attributed shrinking of cultivable land to industrialisation and urbanisation.

He said though the State had attained a good position in production of food grains, it needed to boost the productivity of pulses and oilseeds.

Stating that the food grain production in 2008-09 was 91 lakh tonne and rice productivity has increased from 1,450 kg per hectare to 3,450 kg, he said these were possible due to transfer of technologies. The State was surging ahead to become the most socially and economically `progressive State’ in the country, he said.

Emphasising the need for technology transfer to farmers, he said scientists of the KVKs should encourage as well as train the farmers to adopt latest technologies to achieve productivity. Scientists should be a “ladder” to help farmers scale better heights in economic and social status, he said.

The aim of KVKs should be to increase the agricultural production, improve quality of the produce and gain better price and remuneration so as to improve the socioeconomic status of the farming community, he added.