Port Blair, Jul 03: Two training cum-awareness programmes were conducted on Scientific Management of HYVs of Rice at North and Middle Andaman by ICAR-CIARI for the benefit of rice farmers at Basantipur, Gram Panchayat Hall, Nimbudera on 27th June 2022 in association with KVK, Nimbudera and on 28th June 2022 at Madhupur Gram Panchyat Hall, Diglipur.
The team comprises Dr. P. K. Singh, Principal Scientist and Course Director along with Dr. S. K. Zamir Ahmed, Principal Scientist, Dr. K. Venkatesan, Scientist, Course Convenors and Er. Manoj Kumar, SMS with the technical support of Mr. Shyam Sunder Rao explained in detail the best management practices for better yield, like the selection of seeds and varieties, nursery management, use of farmers’ wisdom / rural people knowledge in pest and disease management, the importance of quality seed production, harvesting, milling along with marketing involving forward & backward linkages. The farmers were asked to witness the promising rice varieties demonstrated at the KVK farm at every stage and offer their feedback on its upscaling.
The interaction session was followed by a field visit and documentation of farmers’ and youth’s perceptions of farming as a livelihood. A total of 4 quintal truthfully labeled seeds of the pulse produced through participatory mode were obtained from trained farmers of North Andaman under AICRP on Seed (Crops) project for technological application during the Rabi season. Also, the team selected farmers for conducting FLD on vegetables under National Extension Programme during Kharif at North Andaman.
Mr. ShyamalDebnath, Gram Pradhan was the Chief Guest at Madhupur Gram Panchyat. He was of great appreciation to the intervention carried out by CIARI and requested many more sensitization programmes in allied fields also. He also put forth the farmer’s aspirations and the need for farming as a better livelihood. A total of 47 farmers (42 male and 5 female) participated in both the training.