DIMAPUR: The Regional Centre for Organic and Natural Farming (RCONF), Imphal, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India, in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, Nagaland, conducted two capacity building programmes on Natural Farming and PGS India Certification at the Directorate of Agriculture, Kohima on September 14 and September 15-16.
The programmes aimed to strengthen the knowledge and practical capacity of Agriculture Department officials, extension functionaries, FPO representatives and Regional Councils on natural farming practices, certification, documentation, traceability, processing and web portal operations.
Dr. Vootla Praveen Kumar, Junior Scientific Officer, RCONF Imphal, served as Convenor and Training Coordinator, conducting major hands on sessions on PGS India certification and web portal operations.
The sessions also covered certification standards, marketing of organic and natural produce, regulatory requirements, packaging, labelling, quality control and plant protection measures.
Resource persons included C. Mohanty, Consultant SIMFED, and Eliseni Tsopoe, Subject Matter Specialist, KVK Kohima.
The programmes concluded with interactive discussions, feedback and distribution of certificates. Participants appreciated the practical exposure and expressed the need for continued capacity building support from the Government of India. Officials noted that the initiative further strengthened Centre-State coordination and field level capacity for effective implementation of natural farming and PGS India certification in Nagaland.
