Training cum field demonstration on vertical intensification for income enhancement and nutritional security
One day training cum demonstration programme on “Vertical intensification for income enhancement and nutritional security” was organized by the Division of Crop Production, ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Umiam on 16thMay, 2018 at Mynsain village, Ri-Bhoi District, Meghalaya under the Network Project on Organic Farming (NPOF) with the objective of enhancing recourse use efficiency and cropping intensity for year round vegetable cultivation.
Dr. Jayanta Layek, Scientist (Agronomy) & PI (NPOF), inaugurated the training cum demonstration programme and explained how to produce more crops on less land. He also elaborated that vertical farming could enable food production in an efficient and sustainable manner, save water & fertilizer and provide access to healthy food by creating compact and self-sufficient ecosystems that cover multiple functions, from food production to waste management. Dr. Utpal Dey explained how vertical structures by using locally available bamboo can be constructed for intensive year round vegetable cultivation of climber crops like pumpkin, bottle gourd, bitter gourd, ridge gourd, squash etc. for generation of additional income in kitchen garden. Shade loving crops like turmeric, ginger etc. can be grown successfully under the structure. By adopting the technology, income as well as cropping intensity can be enhanced. It helps the farmers to save their time and energy for irrigation to some extent. Ms Daphibanri D Lyngdoh stressed that the same vertical bamboo structure can be made over the micro water harvesting structure (jalkund) for year round cultivation of climber vegetables. It also helps in reducing the evaporation from water of underlying jalkund, which can be subsequently used for life saving irrigation for crops or for domestic use.
Altogether 28 farmers from the three adopted villages under the project viz., Mynsain, Pynthor & Umden Umbathiang attended the training cum demonstration programme. In this occasion, seeds of various vegetables including pumpkin, bottle gourd, ridge gourd, bitter gourd etc. along with spices such as ginger and turmeric were distributed among the farmers for adopting vertical intensification in their own field.
