Capacity Building of Tribal Farmers of Dungarpur District under Tribal Sub Plan

JODHPUR: Bernia a tribal dominated village in Dungarpur district of Rajasthan has the farmers with more than 90 per cent illiteracy, very small land holdings and live below poverty line. ICAR-Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur under TSP project has taken up many developmental activities including distribution of solar lanterns, saplings of mango, pomegranate, lemon etc.,  improved seeds,  seed bins, construction of tanka, channels, sodic soil reclamation, distribution of bucks and ram for breed improvement.

As a part of capacity building activities for livelihood improvement, CAZRI has organized three days training program  covering soil and water conservation, improving crop productivity, land use and land capability, horticulture and livelihood improvement knowledge were imparted. Besides, practical training on vermi-compost preparation and poultry management were also given. Soils samples were collected from farmers field and were analysed for pH, EC, organic carbon, macronutrients viz., nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), potassium (K), and micronutrients such as Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn), Zinc (Zn) and Copper (Cu) etc., and soil health cards were prepared.

During the inaugural program Dr.R.K.Bhatt, Director (Act), CAZRI, has distributed soil health cards to 30 tribal farmers. He emphasized the need of integral land use management for improving crop productivity and livelihood sustainability.

The training program was organized by Dr. P. Raja, Senior Scientist (Pedology),   Dr. R. K. Goyal, Principal Scientist (Land and Water Management Engineering) and Dr. Mahesh Kumar Gaur, Senior Scientist (Geography).