Medziphema, May 6 (MExN): The Medziphema Block of the Agricultural Technology Management Agency, Dimapur in collaboration with KVK (ICAR), Jharnapani conducted a demonstration programme on the topic “Cultivation of Ginger (Nadia)” and “Seed treatment with biopesticide” at Medziphema village on May 1 with Lireni Kikon, SMS (Plant Protection), KVK (ICAR) as the resource person.
The resource person first gave an introduction on the varieties of ginger and said that ginger is one of the oldest spices with a distinct flavour and pungency.
Highlighting on the high yielding varieties of ginger like Nadia which was best adopted in North Eastern states, she emphasized on selection of healthy disease free rhizomes and cutting of ginger rhizomes into reasonably smaller sizes taking care of the nodes.
Kikon demonstrated and explained in detail the field preparation with minimum tillage operation and bed preparation with proper spacing. Dwelling on the economic value of ginger, she advised the SHG members to go for large scale production of ginger while also encouraging the women farmers to pursue preparation of ginger candy and sweets in the future.
Later, “Seed treatment with Biopesticides” was demonstrated using Bio-Time – a talc based biopesticide containing aggressive strains of entomopathogenic fungi (Metarhizium anisopliae, Pseudomonas flourescens and Trichoderma harzianum) where the benefits of controlling various types of insect pests and soil borne diseases were highlighted.
She elaborated on different application methods of Bio-Time and also gave hands on demonstration on seed treatment by making a paste of Bio-Time with water and sticker (rice gruel/revive) for treatment of chilli, potato and ginger.
The programme was chaired by Chubanaro Jamir, BTM, Medziphema block and keynote address was given by James Kikon, ACTO, KVK (ICAR) & BTT Convener (ATMA), Medziphema block where he highlighted on the various activities of ATMA and KVK and the role of SHGs in the society.
The vote of thanks was delivered by Nengkhonem Hangsing, ATM,Medziphema block. Seventy Five kilograms of ginger rhizomes were distributed to the SHG members.
