Sri Vijaya Puram, March 9: A three days State Level Seminar on ‘Entrepreneurship Opportunities for Island Youth and Women in Spices, Arecanut and Medicinal Plants Sector’ was organized by ICAR- Central Island Agricultural Research Institute, Sri Vijaya Puram in collaboration with Directorate of Arecanut and Spices Development, Kozhikode, Kerala and ICAR-All India Coordinated Research Project on Plantation Crops, Kasaragod, Kerala from March 5. 

The programme was inaugurated by Ms. Pallavi Sarkar, IAS, Secretary (Agri.), A&N Administration in the presence of Dr. Eaknath B. Chakurkar, Director, ICAR-CIARI.

In her inaugural address, the chief guest emphasized that the Islands have agricultural commodities spread across different Islands in scattered way and hence, aggregation of the produce would be the key to increase the quantum of production and efficient marketing. She also urged the entrepreneurs to focus on appropriate packaging, branding and advertisement to make the ventures competitive in the national and international markets.

Dr. Chakurkar informed the gathering that CIARI has been providing technical guidance to the local stakeholders so that agripreneurship could be developed in these Islands. 

The dignitaries felicitated Smti R. Karthika Devi, a young entrepreneur who took the license of Dweep CinnRub technology from ICAR-CIARI. The programme consisted of technical sessions in which dignitaries from reputed institutes in mainland India as well as CIARI delivered the presentations.