Training cum Awareness Programme on Rainwater Harvesting and input distribution held at Klew village under Mera Goan Mera Gaurav
To commemorate the visionary programme of Hon’ble Prime Minister of India “Mera Gaon Mera Gaurav” (My village, My pride), a day long Training cum Awareness Programme on Rain Water Harvesting was held at Klew. This collaborative program was organized by Scientists of ICAR Research Complex for North Eastern Hill (NEH) Region, Umiam, Meghalaya with North Eastern Regional Institute of Water and Land Management (NERIWALM), Ministry of Water Resources, GOI, Tezpur. The programme was held in Klew village in the Ri- Bhoi District of Meghalaya where farmers from the four villages Mawbsein, Mawblang, Mawkyrdep and Nongpyrdet also participated in the programme.
A total of 45 representative farmers from the four villages of Ri- Bhoi District of Meghalaya participated in the programme. The day long training cum awareness program on rain water harvesting elaborated the importance of water harvesting and its judicious use for irrigating winter crops for sustainable practice of agriculture and livelihood improvement. The programme started with the welcome address by village headmen followed by speeches of Dr G. T. Behere, Senior Scientist (Entomology) and Dr Aniruddha Roy, Scientist (Agril. Economics) of ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Umiam, who highlighted the importance of rainwater harvesting and water storage, structures (Jalkunds). Dr B. C. Nath, Associate Professor (Agri) and Dr U. M. Hazarika, Assistant Professor of NERIWALM, Tezpur, highlighted the need of water harvesting in the region and also provided the information on the time schedule of irrigation for winter crops with stored harvested rain water. Mr. M. Lyngdoh, Senior Research Fellow translated the information into Khasi to the farmers.
The field demonstration on rain water harvesting structure (Jalkund) was also given to farmers. Silpaulin sheets and hose pipe were provided to the farmers for constructing the rain water harvesting structures in all the villages. The one 6 x 7 meters Jalkund could store 30,000 liters of water which will be very useful to irrigate the winter crops. Moreover, inputs like vermibed were also provided to the farmers for preparing vermicompost. Vermicompost is organic manure produced by earth worms feeding on biological waste material and plant residues and which could serve as good source of organic fertilizers to the crop plants. The MGMG Program was funded by Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) of the ICAR.
A scientists and farmer’s interaction was a major part of the programme where the queries of the farmers were answered by the scientists from both the organization. The training assured that the farmers get the best out of it and the institute will provide with every possible help to popularize the Agriculture and allied activities in NEH region.
