Nilgiris Women Farmers Learn Latest Farm Technologies
Scientists at Icar-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation (IISWC), Research Centre, here imparted training to women farmers on women-friendly agriculture, latest farm technologies for hills and natural resources management.
Ooty: Scientists at the ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation (IISWC), Research Centre, here imparted training to women farmers on women-friendly agriculture, latest farm technologies for hills, and natural resources management to celebrate Women Farmers Day, coinciding with the Puja holidays this year.
Women farmers from the villages of Kuruthuguli, Basavakkal and Theetukal participated in the programme.
The programmme coordinator and head in-charge of IISWC here, Dr. P. Sundarambal, and other scientists at the centre, including Dr. M. Sankar, Dr. M. Prabhavathi, Dr. Hombe Gowda and Dr. Sheetal K.R., deliberated on the topics viz., women-friendly agricultural and natural resource management technologies, agriculture-based entrepreneurship and livelihood opportunities for farm women, use of drones in agriculture for drudgery reduction and suitable agroforestry system for the Nilgiris region.
Women farmers were apprised about the hill agriculture-friendly machinery which helps in drudgery reduction for women in carrying out agricultural operations. Literature on resource conservation technologies in the local language was also distributed.
Successful women farmers shared their experiences in cultivation of vegetable and plantation crops and the participants also expressed the problems in hill agricultural practices, especially wildlife menace and labour shortage.
Video films on various resource conservation technologies were shown to the farmers. Demonstrations were also done on cultivation of cover crops for improving soil moisture conservation and soil fertility, weed compost making with the help of a chaff cutter machine using the concept of ‘wealth from waste ’, and preparation of organic inputs for promoting organic and natural farming.
An exhibition was organised by Sh. A. Murugesan, technical officer at the centre, to showcase the suitable soil and water conservation technologies relevant to the women farmers of the hill ecosystem. The participants were taken for a field visit to the research farm for in situ learning of the hill farming systems.