ICAR-KVK Longleng establishes a Natural Farming Resource Centre at Pongching village to promote sustainable farming.
DIMAPUR — The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Longleng, has established a Natural Farming Resource Centre at Pongching village in Longleng district as a community-based platform for promoting natural farming and sustainable agricultural practices.
According to a press release, the centre has been developed to provide farmers with a local facility for practical learning, demonstration, and knowledge exchange.
The initiative was conceptualised, initiated, and coordinated by Subject Matter Specialist (Plant Pathology) Shubhendu Kumar Behera under the guidance and support of Senior Scientist and Head of ICAR-KVK Longleng Dr. Hari Charan Kalita.
The resource centre will primarily function as a training and demonstration hub for farmers of Pongching and neighbouring villages. It will facilitate hands-on learning on the preparation and application of natural farming inputs such as Jeevamrit, Beejamrit, Neemastra, and Agniastra, along with other locally suitable eco-friendly agricultural practices.
The centre aims to provide farmers with an opportunity to learn through practical demonstrations and farmer-to-farmer knowledge sharing, thereby strengthening community-level capacity in sustainable agriculture, it said.
A major focus of the initiative is to develop local resource persons and village-level master trainers who can continue disseminating natural farming knowledge within their communities.
The centre also seeks to bring together traditional Naga agroecological knowledge and scientifically supported natural farming approaches, with focus on soil health improvement, ecological crop protection, efficient use of locally available resources, and sustainable farm production. Through regular training and demonstrations, the initiative aims to encourage farmers to test and adopt suitable practices under their own local conditions.
The centre is envisioned as a continuing village-level resource for training, demonstration, knowledge sharing, and capacity building, with the potential to extend natural farming awareness and practices from Pongching to other villages across Longleng district.