The three-day capacity building training at Khonoma concluded on November 1. The training which was an initiative of Pabhoi Greens (PG) in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) was aimed at assisting women farmers on “sustainable agricultural practices”.
Speaking at the programme, managing director (PG), Neelam Dutta shared his dream on how he wanted Khonoma to become the “first seed bearing village in the state”.
He maintained that the climatic situation was well suited for it and hoped that the younger generation would step up and take up farming on a larger scale while taking all measures to ensure that the produce were purely organic.
He shared how for the last five years, he has been working for seed sovereignty in the village and appreciated the village for the love and trust over the years.
Neelam claimed that there were various hazards with the crops available in the market and that everything was too tailored, devoid of its pure natural characteristics.
He thus, called upon the farmers to make sure that they keep their produce, purely organic.
Neelam expressed optimism that the seed production and packaging would go a long way in building the economy of the village.
Meanwhile, district horticulture officer, S. Senka Jamir also shared that Khonoma was blessed with natural beauty and rich resource, and there was much scope for agro-tourism.
“Where there is forest, there is wealth. Don’t cut your trees”, he said while encouraging the farmers to strive for eco-sustainability.
He expressed happiness that the workshop dealt on seed-packaging, given that seeds were very expensive and urged the young people to take up seed production seriously as the village had the perfect weather condition. He lamented that there was no seed production in the state as yet, however, he expressed optimism that Khonoma would rise up and meet the demands of the state and beyond.
Senka urged the people to take up honey production, natural mushroom production, and soilless seeds production.
Earlier, agripreneur from Mezoma, Zapusazo also shared his experiences on the practicalities and lessons he had learnt over the years through his farm.
He maintained that ‘community farming’ was much needed when it came to meeting the demands of the market.
He urged the farmers to not resort to using fertilisers and shared methods on how to deal with pest menace. He hoped that the western Angami region would come to be an ‘agri-corridor’ meeting the demands of the market.
Horticulturalists Rovizono Meru and Anjana Daimari and staff of PG demonstrated on nursery practices and bed preparation.
It amy be mentioned that Pabhoi Greens is a farmhouse based in Assam which over the years has grown to become an organic seed production, besides dealing in fish, rice, animal rearing, vegetables, and other social and educational activities.
Pabhoi Greens has been leading the way in organic heirloom seed production in NE India and is actively engaged in helping farmers achieve seed sovereignty by sharing knowledge across different ethnic communities.