Farmers Trained On ‘Integrated Crop Management’

Many farmers took part in a training programme on Integrated Crop Management on field crops at Umblikkampatti in Kadayampatti block under the Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) on 23 June 2022. 

Season and seed selection, seed treatment, weed management, integrated nutrient, pest and disease management, harvesting and post-harvest management, and value-addition techniques of pulses, oilseeds, and cotton crops were covered in the training.

During the training, the farmers engaged with Agricultural Officer M. Sampathkumar, Assistant Engineer G. Kalavanai, Block Technology Manager K. Rajendran, Assistant Agricultural Officer C. Venkatesh, and Assistant Technology Manager K. Duraiarasu.

About ATMA (Agricultural Technology Management Agency)

The Innovations in Technology Dissemination component of the National Agricultural Technology Project (NATP) was implemented in seven States in the nation, namely Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Maharashtra, and Punjab through four project districts in each state.

This was done in order to address the main challenges faced by the extension system in the nation, including the decreasing capacity of public extension services and its lack of a decentralised and demand-driven focus.

In order to transition to an integrated extension delivery, this component aimed to pilot test new institutional arrangements for technology diffusion at the district level and below. In order to make the farmer-driven and farmer-responsible technology dissemination process, the project process included adopting bottom up planning processes for setting the research and extension agency.

In an attempt to reach the farmers' location-specific needs, the extension delivery was focused on a group approach.

The project has placed enough emphasis on gender issues. At the district level, it performs as a registered society, acts as a hub for coordinating research and extension initiatives, and aids in decentralising the administration of agricultural technology transfer.