BLETTENG, 12 Sep: Altogether 44 farmers and farmwomen from several villages participated in a ‘Finger millet field day, millet thresher demonstration and farmer-scientist interaction’ programme, organised at Bletteng village in Dutongkhar circle of Tawang district by Almora (Uttarakhand)-based Vivekananda Parvatiya Krishi Anusandhan (VPKAS), in collaboration the Tawang KVK, on Thursday.
During the interaction with the farmers, VPKAS principal scientist Dr RK Khulbe presented an overview of the initiatives undertaken by the VPKAS for promotion of millets in the district, such as introduction of improved technologies (VL Mandua 376 and VL millet thresher) and “farmer participatory quality seed production.”
Senior scientist Dr DC Joshi highlighted the role of early maturing and high yielding finger millet varieties in enhancing finger millet production in the country, with special reference to VL Mandua 376 in Tawang district.
The team of scientists inspected the farmer participatory seed production fields of VL Mandua 376 and explained to the farmers the precautions required for producing quality seed. Dr Khulbe informed that in the last two years, the institute procured 600 kgs of quality seed of VL Mandua 376 from Bletting, which was distributed among the farmers of other villages of the district to enable them to harvest the benefit of its high yield and early maturity.
Family resource management senior scientist Dr Kushagra Joshi apprised the farmers of the drudgery involved in the threshing of finger millet, and dwelt on the health hazards associated with post-harvest activities, as well as potential measures to mitigate drudgery and hazards.
Engineer Shyam Nath delivered a ‘method demonstration’ on the Vivek millet thresher-cum-pearler and explained how its adoption can save time and cost and reduce the drudgery involved in post-harvest processing, besides minimising losses and improving the quality of the produce.
KVK agronomy scientist Dr CK Singh informed that, due to its shorter duration, the VL Mandua 376 variety has gained popularity among the farmers.
The farmers informed that VL Mandua 376 yields about 1.5 times more grain than the local cultivar and matures almost a month earlier, and expressed appreciation for the introduction of millet threshers in their villages. (DIPRO)
