Port Blair, July 23: As per the approved guidelines of National Food Security Mission a farm school on paddy was organized by the Department of Agriculture, Diglipur under ATMA at Keralapuram village on 23rd July, 2012. Addressing the farmers during the inaugural session, Mr. Ramesh Kumar, Deputy Project Director (ATMA) expressed the need of growing high yielding varieties of paddy by adopting improved package of practices so as to achieve higher productivity. He advised the farmers to avoid indiscriminate use of pesticides by planting Neem and Karanj trees as first step towards the adoption of organic farming.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Sailesh Kumar, Asst. Fisheries Development Officer, Diglipur highlighted about the importance of Integrated Farming System by inculcating pisciculture as one of its component. He advised the farmers to use improved breeds of fish for better income to enhance the livelihood and also urged the farmers to avail maximum benefits from different schemes of Fisheries Department.
Later on, Smt. Shakila Nawaz, A.O.(Agri.), explained in detail about the SRI method of paddy cultivation, its advantages and disadvantages. She also stressed the need to adopt seed treatment prior to sowing of paddy.
During the feedback session, the farmers raised various agriculture issues like stream bank erosion, timely supply of seeds, planting materials and PPC.
In the concluding session, Mr. Hari Ram, A.A. discussed about the various schemes of Agriculture Department. The programme ended with vote of thanks by the farmer friend, Mr. V. Rajendran, Keralapuram under ATMA. Altogether 30 farmers including farm women participated in the programme.
