Mayabunder, Nov. 12: The Department of Agriculture through Union Territory Agriculture Technology Management Agency (UTATMA) Mayabunder organized a four-month long programme Farm School on Paddy from July 12. The main objective of the farm school is to increase the local rice productivity sustainably, reduce reliance on imports and support the livelihoods of the Island farmers through scientific knowledge dissemination and quality seed availability.
The field was selected in the Rampur village of Ms. Kamla Kullu wherein ANR47 seed variety was chosen in the area of 1.0 hact. The classes included from seed bed preparation & nursery management followed by transplanting methods. Nutrient measurement and fertilizer application, Integrated Pest Management, Weed Management, Crop growth monitoring and record keeping.
Harvesting threshing drying and storage. The syllabus of Farm School is to provide a holistic and practical approach for small holder farmers and new learner fellow farmers of the nearby areas. The last class was dealt with the harvesting of Paddy and Post-harvest technologies followed by input distribution to the key farmers.
At the end of the programme, an interactive session for clearing queries about ongoing departmental schemes and other issues was also conducted. Altogether 25 to 30 farmers, farmers friend, Department officials, ATMA staffs, attended the programme with full enthusiasm.