ICAR–Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, Kasaragod in collaboration with ICAR- Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Dakshina Kannada organized a training-cum-vegetable seed distribution programme on 21 September 2026 at Ujire Gram Panchayat, Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka, under the Scheduled Caste Sub Plan (SCSP). The programme aimed to encourage vegetable cultivation among resource-poor small and marginal farmers from Scheduled Caste communities and promote coconut-based integrated farming systems.

The training focused on enhancing nutritional security and supplementary family income by encouraging farmers to cultivate vegetables in coconut gardens and utilize open spaces around their houses. Participants were trained in the use of locally available organic resources for vegetable production, enabling them to meet their household requirements with fresh vegetables and market surplus for additional income. At the end of the programme, participants were distributed quality vegetable seeds, including French bean, long cowpea, bitter gourd, amaranthus, okra, bottle gourd and chilli etc., for cultivation in their respective homesteads and coconut gardens.

The programme was presided over by Sri Prakash Shetty, Panchayat Development Officer, along with Smt. Vinutha Gajath Gowda, President, Prerana Mahila Sanjeevini Okkuta, Sri. Prabhakar Mayya, Progressive farmer and Dr. T. J. Ramesh, Programme Coordinator, ICAR–KVK, Dakshina Kannada. More than twenty farmers attended the programme. The participated farmers expressed their willingness to adopt the practices learned during the training and disseminate the knowledge among other farmers in their respective colonies.