8 day training on soil health management, good agriculture practices kick starts
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, September 02 2019: ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region Manipur Centre, Lamphelpat kicked off an eight day model training course on 'Soil Health Management for Organic Farming & Good Agriculture Practices in NE Region- An option for sustainable agriculture' at the ICAR Centre today.

The training was organised under the sponsorship of Directorate of Extension, Department of Agriculture Co-operation & Farmers' Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare, GoI.

Speaking on the occasion, Vice Chairman, Central Agricultural University Professor M Premjit cautioned that farming is facing a huge challenge at present in which over 2058 farmers are leaving their profession as farmers.

And it is time to mull on how to grasp the attention of youth on agriculture & allied activities, the VC said.

The forefathers adopted a clever mechanism where they engage in not only farming but in other activities like fish and poultry farming, bee keeping, sericulture, which helped them in maintaining their source of livelihood and survival with sufficient resources and food.

Maintaining that there have been cases in other States where farmers committed suicide as a result of failing to repay the loan taken from bank, he said that such cases have not occurred in the North East region.

Professor Premjit continued that farmers in Manipur are poor and have limited land of their own and in times of crisis or crop failure, most of the farmers get recovered from backyard poultry.

As such integrated farming has always been adopted in the State and it is the only way to meet the vision of doubling farmers' income by 2020, the VC added.

He stated that the income for farmers of Punjab is Rs 17000 per month and Rs 7,500 per month in case of Manipur.

The VC went on to state that although the farmers' income have doubled in Punjab, there is a risk of decrease in the soil fertility as they utilise lots of chemical pesticides, chemical fertilisers etc.

Now, the emphasis is given on soil health management and organic farming as organic farming can build healthy soil, conserves water and its health/purity.

It does not cause any hazard to animals, encourages bio-diversity and reduce erosion and global warming, he added.

On the other hand, Sikkim, even though, has been declared as an organic State, is producing less every day.

As such, organic farming should be carried out in a confined area and in case of Manipur, this particular type of farming can be done at the foothills.

Joint Director, ICAR Manipur Centre Lamphelpat Dr N Prakash, Course Advisor ICAR Manipur Centre Dr I Meghachandra and Course Director Dr T Basanta attended the function.

Altogether 28 individuals including 13 from Manipur are taking part in the training programme.

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