Ms. Hiresha Verma, an IT Professional turned well-known Mushroom grower and successful Entrepreneur in Charba Village of Dehradun owns a Mushroom Company by the name of “HanAgrocare”, Dehradun. The non-lucrative practice of the traditional farming of Wheat Paddy and Vegetables forced the villagers to leave for the urban areas in search of better income opportunities. To provide the villagers with the opportunities to earn better income at their native place only made Ms. Hiresha to switch herself for becoming an Entrepreneur in the field of Agriculture. Starting Mushroom Cultivation in 2013 with Oyster in her servant quarter with 25 bags, she got good results. On investing Rs. 2,000, she earned Rs. 5,000. The cultivation of Milky Mushrooms fetched her with encouraging results. Ms. Hiresha underwent training on Mushroom farming and learnt about the popular varieties from the Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Dehradun, Uttarakhand.   During her training at the ICAR-...

The numerous disease outbreaks, high cost of cultivation, huge requirement of feed inputs and currently, a fall in price due to COVID-19 Pandemic are some of the challenges being faced in shrimp culture by the farmers of the Coastal Region. A progressive farmer, Smt. Anita Mathew Vallikkappen and her husband, Shri Mathew Vallikkappen from Bicholim had developed a Sustainable Integrated Farming System (IFS) Model (Blue Harvest Farm) at Salem, Goa in an area of 1.8 ha for higher production, income, resource cycling and employment with technical inputs from the scientists of ICAR-Central Coastal Agricultural Research Institute, Old Goa. The fishery, piggery, poultry, fruit crops, vegetables, vermi-compost and biogas were among the components of the system. During the prevalence of COVID-19, the Institute guided the farmer in developing the IFS, which is more profitable, sustainable and resource efficient. The scientists provided the technical guidance on poly-culture of highly...

As the Kharif season is approaching and the second wave of COVID 19 posing serious challenges, ICAR has prepared agro-advisory for farmers for the kharif season. The document covers best agricultural practices for enhancing farm production and income, while ensuring optimum use of resources by the farmers of 28 states and 8 UTs covering major crops, livestock, poultry and fisheries. The advisories are also available in various regional languages.   ICAR Karif Agro-Advisory for Farmers

To support the livelihoods of the wetland-dependent community of Beledanga Beel, the ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore, Kolkata initiated an “Ecosystem-based Wetland Management Programme” under the ICAR W3 Project and the Scheduled Caste Sub Plan. The Beledanga Beel is an Oxbow Lake managed by the Beledanga Barrackpore Fishermen’ Cooperative Society Ltd. since 1958. Being Horseshoe-Shaped with an area of 62 ha in monsoon, the Beel is Eutrophic in nature and highly infested with macrophytes. Keeping the scenario in mind, the ICAR-CIFRI commenced a participatory demonstration of Pen Culture Technology. The main objective was production enhancement in the Beel for supporting the livelihood of the fishermen of Beledanga Beel.     For enhancing the fish production and supporting the socio-economic conditions of the adjoining villages, the Institute adopted the Beledanga Beel in 2019. After collecting the baseline data and...

Guinea Fowl also known as “Titari” and “Chitra”, the low input alternate poultry species domesticated for egg and meat are adapted to varied Indian agro-climatic conditions and most appropriate for backyard poultry production. Being rich in vitamins and low in cholesterol, the Guinea Fowl Meat is valued by consumers for taste and nutritional value. The birds are eco-friendly and helpful in worm, pest and insect control and provide manure for the field and are seasonal layers with average egg production of 90 to 110 eggs from March to September. The seasonality of reproduction / egg production is, therefore, a major problem limiting its egg production and hindering the large-scale commercial production of Guinea Fowl.   The ICAR-Central Avian Research Institute, Izatnagar, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh conducted 4 experimental trials during the winter months (November to February) from 2016 to 2021 to break the seasonality in reproduction in Pearl variety of Guinea Fowl. The aim...