Port Blair, May 27: Post COVID-19 lockdown, farmers of Andaman and Nicobar Islands have hopefully started their preparation for the forthcoming kharif season(June to September), wherein they are expected to grow high yielding varieties of paddy in the lowland area and plantation, spices, fruitsandvegetables in mid and upland area besides rearing of Indian Major Carps(IMC) fishes in the farm ponds. In order to have a good crop with backward and forward linkage, it is better to plan the growing of the crop/fish in a systematic manner following scientific know-how and do-how.
The major areas of intervention for cereals will be land preparation, selection of proper seeds, its treatment, nursery management, planting technique, Integrated pest, disease and nutrient management, rogueing,etc.; for plantation crops – selection of seedlings, site selection, pit making, nutrient management, drainage etc.; for fresh water fishes – raising fish nursery, pond management, stocking the fingerlings, feed management, disease management – all following the guidelines of Ministry of Home Affairs viz. social distancing, proper sanitization and wearing mask.
In this regard, the technical advice on agriculture, horticulture, fisheries, animal husbandry and Natural Resource Management will be imparted by the team of multi-disciplinary Scientists of ICAR-CIARI along with Subject Matter Specialists of KVKSouth Andaman, North & Middle and Nicobar through appropriate mass media and need based field visits under the plan and guidance of The Director, CIARI.
Farmers undertaking the above enterprises in their field beside livestock and poultry may contact Dr. S.K. Zamir Ahmed, Principal Scientist and Dr. R. Jaya Kumaravaradan, Scientist of ICAR-CIARI, Port Blair on all working days between 09.30 AM to 04.30 PM over phone nos.9434262869 and 8903974102 respectively or in person at Social Science Section of CIARI. They may also mail their queries to Dr. B.A. Jerard, Director, CIARI over This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..