Car Nicobar, July 8: ICAR-Central Island Agricultural Research Institute (CIARI), Port Blair and its KVK, Car Nicobar conducted two training programmes on backyard Vegetable Cultivation with weather based Advisory and Innovative Technologies for Fly Management and Leaf Separation from July 4 to 6, 2025, at Kakana village, Car Nicobar. During the programme, tribal farmers were empowered on sustainable agricultural practices with climate-resilient vegetable varieties (brinjal, okra, pumpkin, bitter gourd, radish, amaranthus, cowpea, and gourds), weather-based advisory services, flies management and post-harvest and hygiene management technologies.
These programmes focused on enhancing food and nutritional security while strengthening the adaptive capacity of tribal farmers to climate variability. Practical sessions covered site selection, raised bed preparation, organic inputs, and natural pest management. Additionally, farmers were trained on interpreting Gramin Krishi Mausam Seva (GKMS) advisories—a joint initiative by IMD and ICAR—crucial for timely decisions on sowing, irrigation, and harvesting. Vegetable seed kits and a training manual titled “Island Kitchen Gardening – Sustainable Resource Utilisation and Self-Sufficiency” were distributed to 53 participating tribal farmers. Demonstration and Hands-on Experience for Use of Dweep Go-Fly and Dweep Leaf Separator was also given to 40 tribal farmers
Programmes were conducted under the Scheduled Tribe Component (STC) and Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) schemes by Dr. Abhilash Singh, Scientist, ICAR-CIARI, and Mr. T. Harshang Kumar, Scientist, Dr. Axay, Deepu Meena, Sanket, and Azamal (Subject Matter Specialists, KVK Nicobar) with support from Dr. I. Jaisankar, Sr. Scientist and Dr. Santosh Kumar, Head, KVK Car Nicobar. The entire initiative was conducted under the overall guidance of Dr. E.B. Chakurkar, Director, ICAR-CIARI, Port Blair.