The Department of Botany and Zoology organized an Educational Field Visit to Pilikula Development Authority, Moodushedde, Mangalore for I, II and III B.Sc., students on November 23, 2024. A group of 41 students was accompanied by two teaching faculty Ms. Madhushree and Mrs. Pushpanjali. S and non-teaching faculty, Mrs. Mohalatha. The journey started at 9 A.M. from Mangalore.
In the morning session, students first visited Herbarium and Botanical museum. Dr. H. Sooryaprakash Shenoy, Principal Scientist gave a brief introduction about Pilikula Nisargadama. Mr. Ramakrishna Marati, Scientific Officer familiarized students with the enormous collection of plant specimens displayed in botanical museum, reflecting the rich diversity of flora of the region. Mrs. Veenakumarai, Junior Scientific officer explained the herbarium technique as how the specimens are processed, dried and pasted on to herbarium sheets, labelled and deposited in Herbarium cup-boards as per the guidelines of Botanical Survey of India.
Students visited Arboretum and Medicinal garden, where taxonomist explained in detail the taxonomic features and medicinal values of plants present. Students also collected many plant specimens for herbarium preparation and also algal specimens from the pond.
A nursery is setup in Arboretum. Students visited nursery where the guide explained different types of layering and grafting techniques. Next students made a visit to Guthu house, Pilikula. Guthu house is the traditional manor house of the coastal landlords.
Post lunch, in the afternoon session students made a visit to the Mathsyalaya and Pilikula Biological Park. “Mathsyalaya” is an aquarium to showcase the aquatic diversity of the Western Ghats and native to coastal Karnataka. The Biological Park has major focus on the wildlife species kept in the animal enclosures designed to closely resemble its natural habitat. The students recorded various fauna exhibited here.The educational field visit met all its objectives as it was designed to provide knowledge about plants and animal species highlighting floral and faunal diversity of Dakshina Kannada and Western Ghats.The program strived to achieve the core values of contributing to national development, fostering global competencies and inculcating value system amongst the students.
Report By,Mrs. Pushpanjali S.
