Nagaland: Skill development course conducted for youth in Tuensang

Dimapur, Aug. 26 (EMN): With an aim to make the rural youths self-reliant and to develop entrepreneurial skill in the field of horticulture, which has become an emerging tool in Nagaland, a training programme on various cultivation techniques of high-value vegetables was held in Tuensang from August 19 to the 24^th.

The skill development course was organised by the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Tuensang in association with the State Agricultural Management & Extension Training Institute (SAMETI), and Nagaland & National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE), Hyderabad and under Skill Training of Rural Youth (STRY) scheme sponsored by Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India, informed KVK Tuensang through a press release.

Speaking at the valedictory programme, Tokiho Achumi, assistant chief technical officer (ACTO), KVK, Tuensang, encouraged the participants to inculcate the lessons they had learned during the course and implement it in order to get higher returns from production of high-value vegetables, citing that “horticulture is an intensive type of agriculture and income per unit area from horticulture is much higher than any other branch of agriculture.”

Dr. Shisarenla Aier, subject matter specialist (Horticulture), Martina Shitiri, assistant chief technical officer (Gen. & Plant Breeding), Tokiho Achumi, Eliseni Tsopoe, subject matter specialist (Plant Protection) and Yanger I Kichu (Farm Manager), KVK, Tuensang, were the resource persons of the week-long training programme, according to the update.

The course being an outcome-oriented programme emphasised on the topics like advances in nursery raising techniques for high-value vegetable seedling production; vegetable seed production and technology; IDM & IPM measures for high-value vegetable crops; scope and scenario, challenges and future prospects of high-value vegetable crops in Tuensang district; and production technology of high-value vegetable crops.

Field visits to all the demo-plots and hands-on training on extraction of vegetable seeds, application of various inputs for control of disease and pest, and sowing of vegetable seeds were carried out during the training. Environmental health and safety at the work place was also taken up in the course to equip the candidates to become well-versed with health and safety measures in terms of personal safety and others as well before operation of any farm machinery, chemicals, tools, equipment’s etc., informed the update.

Registration of 15 candidates from three villages — Helipong, Chendang and Nangpong — was done and they were given qualification certificates along with high-value vegetable seeds.