Prayagraj,

07 March (HS): A two-day farmer training program was organized on Saturday,

under the Integrated Horticulture Development Mission (IDM) scheme at the

Extension Directorate of Sam Higginbottom University of Agricultural Technology

and Sciences, Prayagraj. Progressive farmers, members of farmer producer

organizations, and women farmers from self-help groups participated in the

training program. District Horticulture Officer, Prayagraj, Saurabh Srivastava,

briefed the participants on the framework of the Integrated Development Mission

(IDM) scheme and explained that under this scheme, training programs are being

organized for farmers on topics such as modern farming, nursery management,

beekeeping, mushroom cultivation, and protected cultivation of vegetables. He also

provided detailed information about the schemes run by the Horticulture

Department.

District

Horticulture Officer, Saurabh Srivastava, distributed seeds and certificates of

improved vegetable varieties to the participating farmers. Director of Extension,

Dr. Praveen Charan, informed the attending farmers about improved varieties of

spice crops, scientific production techniques, processing, value addition, and

export potential. He explained that improved production techniques can be

adopted for spice crops like cumin, coriander, fennel, fenugreek, and celery to

achieve higher yields. He also noted that the demand for chemical-free products

is increasing in the international market, so farmers can achieve greater

profits by adopting organic and natural farming methods. While providing

information on lac production, Dr. Sarvendra Kumar explained that it is a

highly profitable and low-cost crop that can more than double farmers' profits

in 6-7 months.

Program

coordinator Dr. Shailendra Kumar Singh, while providing information on

protected cultivation, explained that it is a modern agricultural technique in

which crops are grown in structures such as polyhouses, nethouses, and

greenhouses. It provides protection from pests and diseases during adverse

weather conditions, allowing quality production of off-season crops in a

controlled environment. Research student Pradeep Sahu, present in the training

programme, gave detailed information about mushroom cultivation to the farmers

through his experimental techniques and told that mushroom cultivation is a

low-cost and highly profitable business in which production starts in 30-40

days. He gave detailed information to the farmers about preparing compost for

mushroom cultivation, spawning, spawn run, casing, harvesting and marketing of

mushrooms. Scientists of Extension Directorate Dr. T.D. Mishra, Dr. Shishir

Kumar and other employees of the department were present in the training

programme.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi