Scientists oppose proposed transfer of Kalaburagi research land for hospital

Agricultural scientists in Kalaburagi have raised concerns over a proposal to transfer 12 acres of land from the Zonal Agricultural Research Station for a private healthcare project. The Azim Premji Foundation has sought the land to establish a 500-bed hospital. The district administration identified land belonging to the research station, but the University of Agricultural Sciences-Raichur has refused to issue a no-objection certificate for the proposed transfer.

Associate Director for Research B.V. Tembhurne said the station was already short of space and needed additional land for experiments, long-term trials, crop improvement programmes and agricultural education. He said the existing land was fully committed to research activities.

The Zonal Agricultural Research Station has 55 acres. The Krishi Vigyan Kendra has 50 acres and the agricultural college has 25 acres, with about four acres occupied by buildings and gardens. Scientists said the station’s land supports field-based work for nearly 350 agricultural students and is not vacant or surplus.

Particular concern centres on a 34-year-old wilt-sick plot, which researchers describe as one of only 11 specialised facilities of its type in India and the only one in South India. The facility is used for pulse research, including work on red gram and chickpea. The station maintains about 900 pulse entries.

Researchers evaluate material collected from across India for disease resistance, weather adaptability and yield under different farming systems. Scientists said the plot’s accumulated disease pressure and long-term observations could not easily be recreated elsewhere. They argued that the proposed diversion was therefore not simply a question of relocating 12 acres.

In their view, it could affect agricultural research infrastructure developed over decades and used to address farming challenges in the predominantly rain-fed region.