The Hindu 20.07.2009
TNAU’s ODL courses for urban dwellers
Staff Reporter
| These six-month courses will be offered in English |
COIMBATORE: To inculcate the know-how and do-how on agricultural enterprises among the elite progressive farmers and urban dwellers who are deprived of formal agricultural education, the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) will offer nine certificate courses in the Open and Distance Learning (ODL) mode.
These are in landscaping and ornamental gardening, nursery technology, commercial horticulture, modern weed management, soil fertility management, mushroom cultivation, coconut cultivation, integrated nutrient management and waste recycling and vermi-composting.
According to a release, these six-month courses will be offered in English for the benefit of urban learners in the State as well as other states.
Landscaping
The course in landscaping and ornamental gardening will cover topics on identification of suitable plants for outdoors, landscaping principles, styles of gardening, importance of irrigation, utility of fountains, ponds, waterfalls, etc.
The course in nursery technology will deal with preparation and layout of nursery beds, seed treatment, soil sterilisation aspects, propagation methods, laying and bedding, maintenance and display of plants, etc.
The course in commercial horticulture will cover indoor plants, landscape gardening, kitchen gardening, seed production, pollination control, package and practices of flower and vegetable crops, etc.
The course in modern weed management will include topics like identification of weeds, integrated weed management in field and horticultural crops, problematic weed and crop residue management, herbicide application techniques, operation and maintenance of sprayers, etc.
The course in soil fertility management will deal with waste recycling, composting techniques, press mud and fly ash in agriculture, vermin-composting technology, storing and packaging of vermin-compost and its application, utility of urban wastes and bio-solids for crop production.
The course in integrate nutrient management will deal with essential nutrients, soil fertility assessment, role of organic manure and compost, etc.
Applications
The courses will commence from July 2009 onwards. Those who can read and write English are eligible to enrol for the course. Applications can be obtained from the Director, Directorate of Open and Distance Learning, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore – 641003; or downloaded from the university’s website www.tnau.ac.in.
For details, call 0422-6611229 / 6611429; or e-mail to odl@tnau.ac.in.