ICAR-NOFRI Organized Inter State Training on Organic Crop Production for Officers and Progressive Farmers of Maharashtra
ICAR-National Organic Farming Research Institute (NOFRI), Tadong in collaboration with ATMA Gadchiroli, Department of Agriculture, Govt. of Maharashtra organized 3-day Training Program for the officers and progressive farmers of district Gadchiroli, Maharashtra during May 22-24, 2018 in order to update them with latest organic production technologies. A total of 36 persons participated in the training program. Gadchiroli district is situated on the North-Eastern side of Maharashtra State. Naxalism is highly prevalent in Gadchiroli district and subsequently has been highlighted as part of the Red Corridor, used to describe areas in India that are plagued by Naxalites. The district is categorized as Tribal and undeveloped district and most of the land is covered with forest and hills. Forests cover is more than 75.96% of the geographical area of the district. There are no large scale Industry in the district and due to this, the district is economically backward. The main profession of the people is farming and rice is the main agricultural produce and there are many Rice Mills in the district. To get more benefits from their produce farmers are widely adopting organic farming techniques and visited Sikkim to learn advanced organic farming techniques at ICAR-National Organic Farming Research Institute.
Addressing the farmers and officers, Dr. R.K. Avasthe, Joint Director, ICAR-NOFRI said that best performance comes from the adverse conditions and farmers of Gadchiroli has proven that with their dedicated hard work and passion for organic farming. Joint Director presented the importance of healthy soil for production of healthy food grains and vegetables for development of a healthy society. He specifically enriched the knowledge of the farmers with the available ICAR technologies for organic production systems. He further reiterated to adopt dairy farming and vermicompost technology for profitable organic farming in Gadchiroli. Joint Director also distributed the training certificates to the participants.
Dr. Prakash Pawar, Project Director, ATMA Gadchiroli, Maharashtra briefed about the difficult situations prevailing in Gadchiroli and told that farmers are practicing organic farming under a FPO ‘Gadchiroli Organic Farming System’ and selling their organic rice at various trade fairs in the country and earned Rs. 32.0 Lakhs in the recent past. He lauded the ICAR-NOFRI organic production technologies and profusely thanked Joint Director and his Scientific Team for organizing the 3-day Inter State training program for Maharashtra farmers.
Dr. Yashoda Pradhan, former CEO, Sikkim State Organic Certification Agency, addressed the farmers and briefed about the journey of organic farming in Sikkim. She also detailed about the role of certification in organic farming, which is mandatory for the export of organic produce and also to fetch better prices in local market.
Dr. Ashish Yadav, Senior Scientist (Horticulture) and Training Coordinator highlighted the relevance of this training program and its impact on production of agriculture and horticultural crops. He said that Sikkim farmers are adopting ICAR-NOFRI improved organic production technologies on large scale and detailed the ‘Organic fruit and vegetable production technologies’ to the participants.
Addressing the participants, Dr. Raghavendra Singh, Senior Scientist (Agronomy) said that this kind of training shall help the farmers to learn the basics of organic farming and some of the ICAR-NOFRI technologies can be replicated by Maharashtra farmer’s especially organic rice production techniques.
During the technical session, Dr. Chandan Kapoor, Scientist (Plant Breeding) talked about ‘Seed production technology under organic farming’; Dr. S.K. Dutta, Scientist (Horticulture) discussed the ‘Organic production of tuber crops’; Shri Shaon Kr. Das, Scientist (Soil Science) discussed the ‘Modern organic nutrient management techniques and soil sampling procedures’; Dr. P.K. Pathak, SMS, (Animal Science) detailed ‘Dairy management techniques and their role in organic farming’ and Dr. Priya Chettri, SRF (PSP) discussed the ‘Backyard poultry and goat management techniques and their role in organic farming’. Mr. Vinod Rahangdale, BTM ATMA Gadchiroli actively coordinated the farmers visit from Gadchiroli to the Sikkim. During the program, all the trainees also visited the ICAR-NOFRI Research Farm and were briefed about the ongoing research and development activities. Mr Adarsh Kumar, Ms. Rajeni Pradhan, Ms. Zangmit Lepcha and Ms. Sujata Rai assisted actively in organizing the program.
Dr. Prakash Pawar, Project Director, ATMA Gadchiroli addressing the Farmer’s
ATMA Gadchiroli Farmers and Officers Interacting with the Scientists of ICAR-NOFRI
Issued by – ICAR-NOFRI, Gangtok
