LONGDING, 23 Jun: Pasighat (E/Siang)-based College of Horticulture and Forestry (CHF) organised a gerbera cultivation awareness programme under the All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Floriculture at the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) here on Tuesday.
The programme was conducted under the NEH component, with the objective of promoting commercial floriculture and enhancing the livelihood opportunities of farmers, especially women and rural youths, through scientific flower cultivation.
In his keynote address, AICRP principal investigator on floriculture from the CHF, Prof Sunil Kumar, dwelt on the present status and future prospects of floriculture in the Northeastern region.He highlighted the importance of gerbera cultivation as an emerging enterprise capable of generating sustainable income for farmers, and encouraged farmers to adopt modern floriculture technologies and utilise government-supported programmes for establishing profitable flower production units.
Prof Kumar further emphasised that gerbera flowers possess excellent market value in urban centres, hotels, event decoration industries, and bouquet preparation enterprises. He informed the participants that adoption of scientific production technologies can significantly improve flower quality and farm profitability.
He also interacted extensively with the participants and addressed various practical issues faced by farmers in floriculture cultivation.
Longding KVK Head Dr Utpal Kumar Bhattacharya highlighted the importance of crop diversification, and stressed that floriculture can become an important component of farming systems in Longding district.
A team of KVK scientists also interacted with the farmers and provided technical guidance related to their respective disciplines. The scientists encouraged the participants to adopt improved cultivation practices and maintain proper crop management for achieving better productivity and quality.
As part of the programme, quality planting materials and essential cultivation inputs were distributed among selected beneficiary farmers under the AICRP on Floriculture initiative.
A large number of farmers from different villages of Longding district participated in the programme.
The visiting CHF team, including FCLA Sudipta Bhowmik and MTS Kamal Rai, coordinated the programme.
