TURA: Members of several women self help groups from villages in the fringes of the Tura range and the Nokrek national biosphere on Monday took part in a day long programme to discuss the importance of integrated farming that would provide them with a much larger yield of assorted crops and boost their economy.
Organized jointly by the Integrated Council for Agriculture Research (ICAR), Tura and the NGO Adil Gandhian Society, SHGs from Waribokgre, Rongpotgre, Gondenggre and Degranggre actively took part raising pertinent questions on the pros and cons of integrated farming.
Providing inputs backed by scientific research, ICAR agriculture scientist Arun Kr Singh informed the gathering about the advantages of integrated farming that has helped millions of farmers across the country to uplift their profession and their economy.
Citing examples of intercropping, Mr Singh disclosed the success stories for such a practice with commonly found crops such as maize and leguminous plants like string and snake beans (karek) which is abundantly grown in the Garo Hills region.
The rich soil of Garo Hills which can cater to a multitude of crops provided an ample opportunity for people to maintain kitchen gardens and this was one important factor of providing good nutrition for mothers, stressed Mr Singh.
“When we can grow organic crops here in Garo Hills I see no reason for people to depend on vegetables grown with use of pesticides that are imported from outside,” he cautioned and spoke at length on the dangers to one’s health from consuming vegetables that have been treated with chemicals.
The women SHGs were also informed that imparting training as well as providing of seeds would be undertaken by the ICAR-KVK Tura.
An important aspect of the daylong programme was awareness about the high rate of anemia among women, particularly mothers, in this part of the region.
“The major cause of anemia is due to the abundant use of sodium bicarbonate in cooking. This needs to be minimised, and if possible, completely done away with,” advised the ICAR scientist.
It is worth mentioning that a majority of the population in the villages of Garo Hills depend on the use of sodium bicarbonate for their cooking.
While in earlier days the use of Karchi for cooking, derived from the ash of bamboo and banana plant, was synonymous with Garo Hills cuisine yet, over the years people have turned to the most easily available chemical sodium bicarbonate for preparation of food.
Adil Gandhian Society secretary Michael K Sangma and Senior executive member Nathan Ch Momin also addressed the participants on the benefits of healthy living and organic farming.