Port Blair, Nov 22: An awareness programme on Scientific backyard farming was conducted at the Panchayat Hall of Wimberlygunj under the Mera Gaon Mera Gourav programme on November 20, 2021. A number of improved technologies related to horticulture and animal husbandry have been developed at ICAR-CIARI for the benefit of islands farmers and to disseminate those, creation of awareness is a key step.
The programme began with the interactive lecture by Dr. Ajit Waman, Coordinator of the programme. He gave an overview of quality indices of various spices in the markets and described the techniques to produce the spices for meeting these quality parameters. Various scientific production practices for traditional and non-traditional spices were detailed during the session.
Integration of spices in the existing plantations, adoption of improved varieties, appropriate harvesting and hygienic postharvest storage were suggested for improving profitability of spice farming. Queries of participants related to harvesting, low-productivity and availability of planting material were also addressed.
To address the issues of farmers dealing with animal husbandry, a talk was delivered by Dr. P.A. Bala, Senior Scientist, ICAR-CIARI. He gave an overview of various strategies which could be adopted by small scale farmers to make the backyard farming profitable. Selection of fodder species, their propagation and production technologies, and incorporation in animal diet were discussed in detail by him.
Participants were also educated about composition of various feeds, their preparation methods and advantages. He motivated the farmers to come forward to adopt the new technologies for improving their income levels.
At the end, to kindle interest among the farmers for promoting cultivation of non-traditional spices, planting material of lemon grass was distributed to the participants. A total of 23 farmers/ farm women and entrepreneurs participated in the event, which was organized under the leadership of Dr. D. Bhattacharya, Principal Scientist, ICAR-CIARI and facilitated by Sh. Rajendra Pal, BDO. The event was conducted under the guidance of Dr. E.B. Chakurkar, Director, ICAR-CIARI.
