CHES (ICAR-IIHR), Bhubaneswar organized Training cum Awareness programme on vegetable Seed production on commercial scale under MIDH SEEDS project on 27th Oct 2021. The main objective of the programme was to educate the seed producing farmers of the region on the basics of commercial vegetable seed production in Odisha conditions for forthcoming season.
Chief Guest of the programme Sri Chakradhara Panda, DGM, Odisha State Seed Corporation Ltd, interacted with the head of the station Dr. G.C. Acharya and discussed about the possibilities of disposal of the seeds produced under the current programme. The training session was initiated by Dr. P. Srinivas, Principal Scientist and Principal Investigator of the MIDH-SEEDs project, by welcoming the guests, scientists, and farmer participants. Sri Panda, while inaugurating the programme, stressed upon the importance of vegetable seed production in Odisha and appreciated the farmers for joining the initiatives taken by CHES (ICAR-IIHR), Bhubaneswar. He shared his experiences with seed production and marketing with regard to field crops. Guest of Honour Dr. Amreshwar Mishra, Advisor, Jaydev Krushak Surakhya Mancha, addressed the gathering and assured the continued support of the farmers of the region towards commercial seed production. Dr. Kundan Kishore, Principal Scientist, also emphasized upon the need for production of quality seed and planting material of horticultural crops to enhance the income of the farmers. Dr. Manas Ranjan Sahoo, Principal Scientist and Nodal officer, ToT, addressed the gathering and offered the vote of thanks to end the inaugural session.
During the Technical Sessions, Dr. P. Srinivas delivered a talk on Progress and prospects of commercial vegetable seed production under MIDH SEED project in selected regions of Odisha, Dr. P. Naresh Scientist and CoPI, apprised the trainees on the Advantages of commercial vegetable seed production of ICAR-IIHR varieties : a cost-benefit perspective (Online), Dr. Smaranika Mishra, Scientist and Co-PI, presented a detailed presentation on Guidelines for seed production of selected vegetable crops (Online) where she explained various important steps of seed production and care to be taken at different stages of the seed production process. Special emphasis was given on isolation distance, rouging, pest and disease management, maturation, drying, harvesting, threshing, packaging, etc of legume crops like french bean (Arka Arjun), Dolichos bean (Arka Vistar & Arka Amogh), Yard long bean (Arka mangala) and Coriander (Arka Isha) while creating awareness on commercial seed production to a different groups of farmers from Khorda, Puri, Sonepur, Dhenkanal, and other places.
During the interactive session, all scientists gave detailed and elaborative guidance to the trainees. During the interactions, Dr. Madhavi Reddy, Head, Division of Vegetable Crops, ICAR-IIHR, Bangalore, introduced the trainees with the procedures and benefits of hybrid seed production while Dr. H. S. Yogeesha, Principal Scientist, ICAR-IIHR, Bangalore, explained the basic requirements pertaining to the seed quality of different crops. The scientists responded to the queries of the trainees on various aspects of commercial seed production. The trainees were taken for a visit to the seed processing unit of the Station.
