The ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR) Bengaluru organized off campus training programme to the tribal farmers at forest Range Office of Odugathur Village, Vellore District of Tamil Nadu on 12th October, 2024. This programme was inaugurated by Honourable Director of ICAR-IIHR, Dr. T. K. Behera and explained about the importance of Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) for enhancing livelihood opportunities of tribal farmers through various ICAR-IIHR technologies. Dr. R Senthil Kumar, Principal Scientist narrated the objectives and importance of the training and also explained suitable ICAR-IIHR technologies to the tribal farmers. Dr. V. Sankar, Principal Scientist, explained about suitable ICAR-IIHR vegetable technologies to the tribal farmers. Mr. V.Ramanathan, Consultant, Tamil Nadu Bio Diversity Conservation and Greening project, Dept of Forest, Govt of Tamil Nadu explained about various tribal schemes available to the tribal farming community and thanked ICAR-IIHR for their contribution towards the upliftment of tribal farmers through TSP. At the end, inputs were distributed like vegetable seeds (French Bean Var. Komal and Suvidha, Garden Peas var. Arka Apoorva, Amaranthus and Tomato var. Arka Rakshak) and fruit planting materials like Mango (Arka Raspuri 500 No.) Custard apple (Arka Sahana-500 No.) Dragon Fruit (Pink flesh-300 No.), Jamun ( Dupdal 100 No.) and Sapota (Cricket ball-100 No.) were distributed to identified beneficiaries. This programme was attended by 31 tribal farmers of Odugathur Village of Vellore Forest range and 15 forest officials. This programme was coordinated by Dr R. Senthil Kumar, Principal Scientist and Dr. V. Sankar, Principal Scientist, ICAR-IIHR.
