HONOURARY DOCTORATE FOR FARMER ABDUL RAUF SHAIKH

The University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Dharwad, Karnataka, conferred the Doctorate (Honouris causa) on a farmer Abdul Rauf Abdul Karim Shaikh for his pioneering work in pineapple and pepper by adopting latest technologies. “The award emphasises the importance of agriculture and its contribution to the society,” says Dr K.V. Peter former Vice Chancellor, Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur. Mr. Shaikh, popularly called as the “Pineapple king of Banvasi” cultivates pineapple, banana, papaya and pepper in his 300 acres.  According to Mr. Shaikh, currently he is harvesting nearly 30 tonnes of pineapples from an acre in 14 months after installing drip irrigation. Previously he could manage a harvest of about 19-20 tonnes only. One of the unique features of Mr. Shaikh is that he adopts hormonal treatment of plants technique to ensure availability of fruits all through the year. Mr. Shaikh also encourages others to adopt this technique. Inter-cultivation of various crops such as coconut, arecanut, cocoa, pepper, vanilla and coffee is also done in his farm. In addition G-9 banana varieties are also grown. Mr. Shaikh is now involved in setting up a pineapple canning unit in Banvasi with a capacity to crush 10 tonnes or 6,000 fruits in hours.