ICAR conducts entrepreneurship skill development training fo
ICAR conducts entrepreneurship skill development training for farmers
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) Peren, organised a five-day entrepreneurship skill development training for farmer producer organisations
Participants showcase their value-added products, including
pickles, beverages, and dried snacks during the skill development training.
DIMAPUR — The Indian Council of Agricultural
Research (ICAR)-Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) Peren, in collaboration with ICAR
Nagaland Centre, Meziphema, organised a five-day entrepreneurship skill
development training for farmer producer organisations (FPOs) on fruit and
vegetable processing and their value addition at ICAR Nagaland Centre,
Meziphema, from March 24 to the 28th.
According to an update, the programme was conducted under
the leadership and supervision of Dr. H Kalita, head of the Regional Centre,
ICAR Nagaland, to make the members of four FPOs aware of the importance of
entrepreneurship development through agriculture, their value addition, and
market linkage under the FPO scheme.
Hiazu Meru, Deputy Commissioner of Peren, attended the
inaugural function as the special guest and congratulated KVK Peren for
organising the training.
During his speech, he emphasised entrepreneurship
development, particularly by identifying young people, the importance of
capturing the local market for product marketing, targeting offseason crop
cultivation, and adopting agriculture as a business model. He also highlighted
the concept of crop rotation.
He encouraged the participants to avail themselves of
various government subsidies and welfare schemes, such as the Prime Minister's
Employment Generation Programme, the Comprehensive Micro-Finance Initiative,
the Pradhan Mantri Jan Jeevan Jyoti Yojana, the Atal Pension Yojana, the PM Suraksha
Bima Yojana, etc. He also addressed the importance of collaboration between
different departments for the benefit of the farming community in Peren
district.
Dr. Kalita, in his speech, highlighted the importance of
FPOs and their role in the marketing of products. He advised the participants
to work sincerely and in consultation with all the experts and also assured
them of collaborative advanced training on branding, packaging, and marketing
for the FPOs.
During the five-day training, four theory sessions and four
practical sessions covering all aspects of value addition in fruits and
vegetables, sorting, packaging, labelling, branding, and marketing channels and
scopes were delivered by experts from NSRLM-Peren (Amos Newme), Ilandlo
Services Pvt. Ltd, Dimapur (Imtisunep Longchar), ICAR Nagaland Centre, and KVK
Dimapur.
Eleven types of value-added products (lemon and orange RTS,
ginger candy, turmeric powder, green chilli and tree bean pickles, soya milk
and tofu, dehydrated chayote) were prepared during the practical sessions under
the guidance of scientists Dr. Aabon W Yanthan, Dr. S Ruth Assumi, Dr. Azeze
Seyie, and Dr. Chingakham Sima Chanu of ICAR Nagaland Centre.
The training programme was attended by 23 participants from
four FPOs of Peren district under KVK Peren as CBBO. Certificates and inputs,
such as packaging materials, were distributed during the valedictory session.
