Its a very warm welcome when we arrive and in the following two hours we learn a lot about the activities of the institute and the programmes they run with the farmers in the surroundings of Coimbatore.

It’s a small team working here, but the impact and agile set up of the activities allows them to have a real impact on the farmers’ life.

“Our farmers have a lot of challenges due to the lack of knowledge on animal health, but also on basic business skills and farming generally. Furthermore there are a lot of accessibility issues, the lack of water and climate changes. The farming land today – compared with earlier times – is smaller. That’s why we have to train them and offer a variety of programmes”, explains the professor.

Recently, they have launched an app where farmers can easily get in contact with the institute and receive information. More than 2000 farmers who participated in programs have subscribed already. They conduct on-campus and off-campus training programmes on various aspects of livestock and poultry farming to the practicing farmers, women self help groups, landless labourers, rural poor, unemployed youth, economically weaker sections and entrepreneurs.

In the last two years they have been awarded as one of the best institutes in India.

When we leave the institute, we all have the impression that there are very positive initiatives ongoing. Maybe an infrastructure and people we could co-create with in the future. Why not?

Background information

VETERINARY UNIVERSITY TRAINING AND RESEARCH CENTRE

This Centre was established in 1982 in Coimbatore and became part of the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, (TANUVAS) in 1989 as the first Veterinary and Animal Sciences University in India. The objectives of the Centre are to

• impart training on the felt needs of the end users, practicing farmers and officers of the line departments
• act as a two way channel between the University and the farmers to identify the field based livestock and poultry problems and also to pass on the remedial measures
• conduct on-farm trials on the latest research findings of the University and field oriented problems specific to the area
• ensure an immediate and proper diagnosis of disease in the event of an outbreak with special emphasis on disease reporting system.
• motivate and encourage local farmers in establishing livestock and poultry farms for self-employment.
• collaborate with Central and State sponsored rural development Programmes
• develop and maintain data base on livestock and poultry in the area.