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Officials of the ICAR-Nagaland and the KVK of Longleng district pose with farmers after a training event for the farming community on March 8 in Longleng district.[/caption]
Dimapur, March 15 (EMN): The issue of improving cultivation practices to ensure food security of tribal farmers through sustainable intervention was the focus of a recent training programme for farmers conducted by the state‘s Indian Council of Agricultural Research and the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) of Longleng district.
The event was conducted on March 8 at Hukphang village in Longleng district.
The topic of the training discourse was “Jhum improvement for food security of tribal farmers through sustainable intervention” and “strategies to counter Climate Change in agriculture and allied sectors.” The organisers issued a press release giving updates on Wednesday.
53 farmers from Hukphang and Lingtak villages participated in the event it was informed.
During the programme, Dr. LK Baishya, senior scientist at ICAR, elaborated to the farmers the options of sustainability that would enhance the productivity of the jhum (slash-and-burn cultivation) land. He emphasized on adopting market-led farming to increase their income, the updates said.
Also, Dr. Manoj Kumar, subject matter specialist at Longleng’s KVK highlighted to the famers the initiatives of the institution that seeks to improve aspects of ‘jhum.’ Likewise, Programme Coordinator Dr. KL Meena gave detailed information about the role of the KVK in the development of the farming community of the district.
Another session of the event focused on the topic “strategies to counter Climate Change in agriculture and allied sectors.” According to the organisers, the event was organized to sensitize farmers about the challenges in agriculture and allied sectors in the modern conditions of changing climates and the role of Agromet Advisory services in improving agriculture.
Dr. LK Baishya educated the farmers about the effects of Climate Change on agriculture and livelihood.
Dr. Manoj Kumar spoke about the adaptation strategies for agriculture and allied sectors amid Climate Change.
Likewise, Romen Sharma, a scientist at ICAR, informed the farmers about the importance of Agromet Advisory services of GKMS project “which gives location specific farm advisory services on agriculture and allied sectors based on the weather forecast and crop information available from the districts of the state.”
Also, Sharma insisted that the farmers take advantage of mobile SMS services for what he said was better planning of agricultural operations particularly in the rural areas. He concluded with a request to all the farmers to ‘get registered with the SMS service’ by providing their mobile numbers to the ICAR, Nagaland centre.
Scientists from the ICAR and staff members of the KVK of Longleng district visited fields and interacted with farmers on March 7 and the 8th at Pongching and Yongam villages, the organisers informed. The farmers were given information about promotion activities of maize and groundnut crops ‘for enhancing production and productivity of livestock in Nagaland.’
The press release informed that Dr. LK Baishya highlighted the importance of quality fodder for piggery and poultry. He encouraged the farmers to adopt maize and groundnut for self-sufficiency ‘in quality feed for promotion of livestock farming as the state is deficit of about 80 per cent in meat production.’