Aaranyak holds horticulture training for smallholder farmers

GUWAHATI: Aaranyak, a conservation organization of India organized, a one-day training programme on Homestead Agriculture and horticulture for smallholder farmers for four villages within the Kohora River Basin of Karbi Anglong, Assam. As part of its community-based natural resource management activities Aaranyak is working with the indigenous Karbi communities in the area. To reduce pressure on the forests within the basin, Aaranyak is promoting organic cultivation and sustainable agriculture through integrated approaches of scientific and traditional skills in agriculture. The open-air training, first of its series, was held at the Village School on 13th November 2020.

A total of 28 farmers and practitioners including 12 women and 16 men from three villages (Hemai Lekthe, Chandrasing Rongpi and Phumen Ingti) participated in the training programme, where they learned about various horticulture and agriculture activities. They were also taught the scientific methods to select the seeds and propagation of the areca nut saplings. The participants were enthusiastic and excited about learning the new techniques and methods of sapling propagation, plantation and vegetable cultivation. The exuberant participants felt confident that they too can produce quality planting materials and cultivate winter vegetables with the correct techniques and procedures taught. Ms. Kache Ronghangpi, a participant, expressed her happiness, "With new learning on vegetable cultivation with the help of Aaranyak, I am confident that I too will be able to practice better winter vegetable farming, which will help my family to get much needed income to them".

The training programme covered some of the basic but important aspects of agricultural activities – seed bed preparation, raised bed cultivation method, areca nut plantation along with homestead area planning, black pepper cultivation, betel leaf, vegetable farming, a press release said.

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