PASIGHAT, 9 Sep: Thirty-five buckwheat growing farmers and traders of East Siang district benefitted from a ‘mega seed distribution-cum-training programme on scientific cultivation of buckwheat in Arunachal Pradesh’, organised here by the College of Horticulture & Forestry (CHF) on Friday.
The National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resource’s potential crop network coordinator Dr Hanuman Lal Raiger highlighted “the research achievements in releasing improved varieties of buckwheat,” and said that “buckwheat is one of the very nutritious crops which can be grown in zero budget mode in Arunachal Pradesh, which may give more return to the growers.”
Dr Raiger interacted with the buckwheat growing farmers of Jampani village, and assured them of all support. He also visited “the experimental field of jobs tear and other potential crops at the CHF,” according to a release.
Principal investigator Dr P Debnath highlighted the “superiority of buckwheat over other major cereal crops such as rice, wheat, maize, etc, in terms of nutrients and nutraceutical properties.”
He spoke also about developing a storage facility for buckwheat at the CHF, and Dr Raiger agreed with the idea.
Prof SK Bandhopadhya spoke on the nutritional values of buckwheat, and CHF Dean Prof BN Hazarika said that “buckwheat is now categorised as a potential crop by researches, owing to its nutritive value and health benefits.”
Tularam Upadhaya and Mohan Sahini – progressive farmers of Jampani and Mirsam villages – are cultivating buckwheat in more than 5 hectares of land. They encouraged their fellow farmers to start scientific cultivation of the crop to fetch higher returns with little initial investment.
Drs LD Hatai, Surmina Devi and Tasoo Yatiung spoke on marketing strategies, value addition and nutrient management under organic cultivation.
