Rural Innovators’ Meet begins in Wayanad tomorrow

All arrangements are in place for the Rural Innovators’ Meet (RIM) 2018, jointly organised by the Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) and the Community Agrobiodiversity Centre of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation. It will be held at at the Foundation auditorium here from Monday to Wednesday.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the programme at 10 a.m. on Monday.

Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, RIM advisory committee chairman R.V.G. Menon said the annual event for innovators, especially those from rural areas, would be a platform for exchange of ideas for product upgrade. The three-day event, would also provide a platform for the innovators to understand marketing methods, issues pertaining to intellectual property rights (IPR), micro-financing and to discuss the various challenges faced by them, said Dr. Menon.

As many as 130 stalls, including 80 stalls of innovative farmer scientists and 50 stalls of government institutions, will be put up at the venue. Ports Minister Kadannappally Ramachandran will open the stalls on the occasion.

The RIM will select top innovators and confer them with the ‘Innovation of the Year’ award, rural innovation awards and other special awards. Various programmes including seminars and interactive sessions for the benefit of innovators would also be held in connection with the programme, he said .

In order to encourage engineering students to take up rural technology, a contest on innovative products having rural applications developed by students of engineering colleges in Kerala will also be organised.