The Azim Premji Foundation has requested 12 acres of land in Kalaburagi city to build a 500‑bed hospital, and the district administration has identified land at the Zonal Agriculture Research Station (ZARS) for the project.
The proposed diversion has drawn serious objections from agricultural scientists. They argue that the land, developed over decades for crop research, cannot be treated as surplus, especially as the institution is already experiencing a shortage of research space. The University of Agricultural Sciences‑Raichur (UAS‑R) has declined to issue a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the transfer, citing the station’s critical research needs.
Associate Director for Research B.V. Tembhurne said, “We need more land, not less, for research activities. The existing land is already fully committed to ongoing experiments, long‑term trials, crop improvement programmes, and the field‑based requirements of agricultural students.” ZARS occupies 55 acres, the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) 50 acres, the college 25 acres, and about four acres are occupied by buildings and gardens, supporting nearly 350 students.
A key concern is the 34‑year‑old wilt‑sick plot at ZARS, one of only 11 specialised facilities of its kind in the country and the only such site in South India. The plot is central to pulse research, especially for red gram and chickpea, and its unique disease pressure, accumulated observations, and successive seasonal trials constitute a research environment that would take decades to recreate. The issue therefore extends beyond the 12 acres; it questions whether critical agricultural research infrastructure, built through decades of public investment, should be surrendered when the institution already faces a land shortage.
