The ICAR-Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Longleng has established a Natural Farming Resource Centre at Pongching Village in Longleng district to promote natural farming and sustainable agricultural practices through community-based training, demonstration and knowledge sharing.

The Centre was conceptualised, initiated and coordinated by Shubhendu Kumar Behera, Subject Matter Specialist (Plant Pathology), ICAR-KVK Longleng, under the guidance and support of Dr Hari Charan Kalita, Senior Scientist and Head, ICAR-KVK Longleng.

The Resource Centre would serve as a local training and demonstration hub for farmers from Pongching and neighbouring villages. It would provide hands-on training in 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 initiative aims to strengthen community-level capacity by enabling farmers to learn through practical demonstrations and farmer-to-farmer knowledge exchange. A key focus would be the development of local resource persons and village-level master trainers who can continue to disseminate natural farming knowledge within their communities.

The Centre would also seek to integrate traditional Naga agroecological knowledge with scientifically supported natural farming approaches, with emphasis on improving soil health, ecological crop protection, efficient use of locally available resources and sustainable farm production.

Download Nagaland Tribune app on Google Play

Through regular training and field demonstrations, farmers will be encouraged to test and adopt suitable practices according to their own local conditions.

The establishment of the Pongching Natural Farming Resource Centre represents an important step by ICAR-KVK Longleng towards strengthening community-based agricultural extension and promoting sustainable farming among tribal farming communities. Under the initiative led by Shubhendu Kumar Behera and with the guidance of Dr Hari Charan Kalita, the Centre is envisioned as a continuing village-level resource for training, demonstration, knowledge sharing and capacity building, with potential to extend natural farming awareness and practices from Pongching to other villages of Longleng District.