Port Blair, July 16: ICAR-Krishi Vigyan Kendra, CIARI, North & Middle Andaman organised NABARD sponsored capacity building programme on “General Care and Management of Vanraja Chickens” for rural women from 14th July, 2020 to 15th July 2020 at two different locations of Dukenagar village, Gram Panchayat Swadeshnagar. Dr. R. K. Singh, SVO, Swadeshnagar, AH & VS; Dr. Parag Deoria, SVO, Basantipur Composite Poultry Farm, AH & VS; Dr. Pooja Kapoor, In-charge Head, KVK; Er. Manoj Kumar, SMS, KVK; Dr. Shardul Vikram lal, SMS, KVK; PRI-Members; farmwomen and other KVK staff participated in the programme. In the inaugural session, Dr. Pooja Kapoor highlighted the need for balancing the diet of rural women and children’s for protein content and motivated the rural women to incorporate poultry eggs and meat in the daily platter. Speaking on the occasion, Dr. R. K. Singh briefed the support facilities extended by the AH and VS for the benefit of poultry farmers and urged the participants to adopt best management practices for profitable poultry production. In another programme, Dr. Parag Deoria described the features of Vanraja chickens and explained in detail about the care and Management of Day Old Vanraja Chickens. Er. Manoj Kumar discussed the role of poultry farming in gender empowerment and highlighted the need for reducing the cost of poultry feed for profitable rearing of vanraja chickens. During the programme, technology on low cost brooding and formulation of cost effective feed from locally available ingredients were also demonstrated to the participants by Dr. Shardul Vikram lal and Shri Ravish Kataria. In the two days programme, lectures were arranged to develop the skill of participants in nursery and free range management of vanraja chickens. A total of 24 no. of rural women were benefitted from this NABARD funded programme under the project on “Capacity Building on Advanced Poultry Production Techniques for Rural Women in North and Middle Andaman”. The programme was conducted under the supervision and guidance of Dr. Pooja Kapoor, In-charge Head, KVK, Nimbudera, and Dr. B. A. Jerard, Director, CIARI.