Success story on promotion of high yielding potato varieties in Garo Hills district of Meghalaya
A.S.Singh, N. Tarun Kr Das, Arun Kr Singh, & Tanmay Samajdar, KVK, ICAR, West Garo Hills, Meghalaya
Introduction: Rumbagre village falls under Rongram block of West Garo Hills district, Meghalaya. The situation of village is undulating with a hilly terrain and topography range from 200 m to 500 m above mean sea level. The soil of the village is very much congenial for cultivation of potato crop during rabi season as most of the farmers field are located near the banks of rivers /streams which is mostly inundated by sediments during Kharif season due to which the soil status is very much fertile. Most of the potatoes available at Garo Hills are mostly imported from the neighbouring state Assam. Potato is a newly introduced cash crop in the village.
Interaction of farmer with experts after harvest of potatoes
Problems Identified: The local farmers don’t have the knowledge about scientifically cultivation of potato and unavailability of improved quality tubers in time is the main constraint faced by villagers. Other problems like water scarcity during rabi season, leaching of nutrients, low water and fertilizer use efficiency etc. are also identified in the village. Therefore, new innovative sustainable technologies are needed not only for raising and sustaining the potato productivity per hectare but also for producing quality tubers using scarce and expensive resources such as water and fertilizer in order to meet both domestic (consumption per capita 32 kg) and market demand.
Technical support & Intervened by KVK, Tura: In this village, a joint venture programme on tuber crops improvement was initiated by the Scientists of ICAR,RC, for NEH Region ,Umiam in collaboration with International Tuber Crops Research Institute under IFAD. In this programme an attempt was made for improvement on existing local cultivars of tuber crops of Cassava, Colocasia, yams etc. which is already grown in Jhum land (shifting cultivation) areas by utilizing the locally available resources of the district. After two years continuation of the programme, KVK, Tura interfere and collaborate in this programme as monitoring and evaluation team of the project. During this project, a group meeting was held at ICAR, RC, Umiam along with the KVK staffs of Ribhoi, West Garo Hills, East and West Khasi hills district and selected farmer representatives from each KVK’s for strengthening the project. A team covering seven number of farmer lead by Malini Marak was attended from the Village Rumbagre, West Garo Hills in the programme. During the group meeting, Nodal Officer, IFAD gave the option to the farmers for selecting crops other than their existing crops in the field. The farmers of West Garo Hills lead by Malini choose potato cultivation in the available abandoned land near the river banks. Smt. Malini Marak is a young lady who is presently pursuing her graduation from Tura College. She is hardworking farmer and she could able to grasp the technologies faster and adopt it. She is actively involved in all day to day working of the farm and marketing. After seeing her potential and confidence to grow potato, KVK, Tura has selected as a main farm women leader in the village. Training was conducted imparting the knowledge of crop water requirement and irrigation scheduling, Fertilizer application, plant protection measures and time of harvesting etc. KVK, Tura has supplied her four varieties of improved quality tubers namely Kufri Jyoti, Kufri Megha, Kufri Giriraj and Kufri Girdhari. A front line demonstration was also conducted at Smt. Marak’s field where maintenance of spacing and techniques of sowing were shown to the farmers. She covered an area of 1 acres of land. At the time of tuber formation stage, she has informed KVK, Tura regarding the infestation of White grubs in her field. KVK personnel rush to the area, supplied and suggest spraying systematic insecticide – Imidacloprid @ 2ml /lit of water.
Vegetative stage of potato at Rumbage village Farmers weighing potato after harvest
Results:Tuber yield: The lowest yield was 17.4 tons/ ha in Kufri Megha and the highest yield recorded to 22.0 tons/ha in Kufri Giridhari with a net profit of Rs. 85,000/- sold @ Rs.20/kg.
Impact:Use of scientific technical knowledge in a sustainable way, in potato cultivation to spread over a larger area. Higher productivity, quality tubers, food security and increased income to farmers. Potato best management practices for the farmers are irrigation and fertilizer scheduling. Now she is a happy young lady and developed a spirit that a college going lady can be self-employed from agriculture if she has interest and will power.
