Sunflower cultivation has shown highly encouraging results for the first time on a comparatively large scale under the initiative of AgriNova Organic Farmers, Chungtor Village, under Longkhim Town, Tuensang District, Nagaland, coordinated by Dr Bongliba Sangtam.

Presently, 30 households are actively cultivating sunflower with a minimum of 1 acre each. The main objective of this initiative is to gradually shift farmers from traditional farming practices towards sustainable cash crop cultivation through oilseed farming.

The oilseed initiative was supported by the Indian Institute of Oilseeds Research (IIOR), Hyderabad, and ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Nagaland Centre, Jharnapani and with support from Ariba Anar, State Co-ordinator Nagaland, NEDFi, NE-RACE (now under NERAMAC, Ministry of DoNER), along with the Agriculture Department.

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The field performance and crop condition have been highly successful and encouraging, especially considering this is the first large-scale sunflower cultivation initiative in Eastern Nagaland. The positive results have generated strong interest and motivation among local farmers for future expansion of sunflower and other oilseed cultivation in the region.