Jammu: Comprehensive 2 day Training and Demonstration session was held here at Panchayat Ghar Suchetgarh and Korotana Khurd village for extension functionaries and 20 Local Resource Persons (volunteer LRPs) representing 10 groups of 668 hectare Suchetgarh Basmati Rice Cluster (SBRC) comprising of 519 faming families in R.S.Pura Sub Division of Jammu District.
Launched as a part of the SBRC Project, the objective of the program was to build capacity of extension functionaries and LRPs to guide the farmers of the cluster and to enable them to produce true-to-type aromatic Basmati rice through organic means for improved marketability and export for higher economic returns as per Organic India standards under Participatory Guarantee System (PGS).
On the instructions of Dr. S. S. Jamwal Director of Agriculture Jammu, the Regional Council headed by Chief Agriculture Officer Jammu had invited several Service Providing Agencies, Bio-fertilizer and Bio-pesticide manufacturing companies for demonstration of their Organic Products during the programme. Amongst them the representatives of Actech Information Systems, Alpha Environmental Systems, International Panaacea Ltd, KRIBHCO and Prathista demonstrated their organic inputs and imparted on-spot training on their application and use in specifically identified groups. Representatives of Sudhmahadev Vegetable Producer Company Limited and Y S Sons Agrotech also participated in the programme besides a number of other prominent farmers including Dev Raj Choudhry, President, R.S. Pura Basmati Rice Growers Association and Swaran Lal, Sarpanch Suchetgarh.
The products demonstrated and demonstration plots provided to farmers by the Service Providing Agencies and participating companies under the supervision of officers of Agriculture Department, SKUAST J scientists, and LRPs included Vermi-based organic manures, Zyme granules, Azotobacter, Potash Solublizing Bacteria, Phosphorus Solublizing Bacteria, Azospirillum, Trichoderma viridi, Beauvaria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae, etc.
The campaign will continue in coming days.As the process of land preparation has already started gaining momentum in the area for transplanting of Basmati Rice seedlings this month, the farmers were anxious about deficient electricity in the area which was hampering the operationalization of irrigation pump sets. They also raised the issue of canal irrigation water not reaching their fields while the rainfall fall was also not sufficient as yet.
It was urged by the participating farmers to improve the drainage system as the overflowing water during the monsoon season inundates the fields and damages the crops. CM. Sharma Dy. Director of Agriculture Jammu, Dr. A.K. Gupta, Associate Professor, SKUAST-J, Deepak Kuchroo, Assistant Agrostologist, Matinder Singh, ADO, Jammu, Farooq Ahmed Bhat, SDAO, R.S. Pura, Devi Ditta Bhagat, AEO, R.S. Pura besides Pradeep Kumar, Sahil Gandotra, Arun Jaral, K.K. Bhat and other JAEOs detailed the participants on various interventions, organizational aspects, data up-loading on PGS portal, e-networking and other relevant components of the project and focused on the quality inputs, quality production and participatory approach as per National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) guidelines for making the project a successful model for adoption by similar other agri-ecological situations.
