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III. TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY:
i. Training programmes to farmers and Technical staff :
During 2022-23 crop season, Board had organized 156 training programmes to the farmers in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka at different stages of crop growth from Nursery Management to Crop harvesting, curing and on farm storage to create awareness on Good Agricultural Practices. Around 7759 participants (growers/staff) had participated in these training programmes.
Field level training programmes (3 No’s) on mass multiplication procedure of Bio-pesticides and Bio-fertilizers and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to Field staff were conducted in all soil regions of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Scientists from NIPHM (National Institute of Plant Health Management), Hyderabad were invited as faculty for all the programmes.
Outsourcing technical field staff of Tobacco Board (164 no.s) working in all soil regions of both Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka states were trained on the “Basics of Package of Practices in FCV tobacco production from nursery management to Post Harvest Product Management (PHPM)” in the month of August, 2022.
ii. Publicity material:
During 2022-23 crop season, multi colour pamphlets covering the topics “Management and control of Orobanche parasite”, “Importance of green manure crops raising in FCV tobacco”, “Elimination of Non Tobacco Related Material (NTRM) in FCV tobacco” and “Recommended Crop Protection Agents(CPAs) and their dosages” were got printed in Telugu language for distribution to growers of Andhra Pradesh state. Pamphlets on Good Agricultural Practices in Kannada language were distributed to growers of Karnataka.
iii. Workshops:
During 2022-23 crop season, Regional Managers in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka organized workshops on “Good Agricultural Practices in tobacco cultivation” to the growers and staff.
iv. Study tours.
Tobacco Board had organized study tour to 312 farmers from all the 16 Auction platforms of Andhra Pradesh to visit Ag-Tech 2022 exhibition (Agri Expo) at Acharya N.G.Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU), Lam, Guntur during 3rd & 4th December-2022 for the benefit of tobacco growers. The FCV tobacco growers of all soil regions were taken for the programme and growers visited stalls exhibiting latest farming technologies, Agriculture machinery & tools; Aqua culture; Artificial intelligence utilization for precision farming; Agri Nano technology; Irrigation automation; Food processing machinery; Organic agriculture; warehousing and cold storage equipment; Rural innovations; vertical farming & Hydroponics; supply chain logistics, Integrated Pest Management concepts etc. and also participated in conference on latest technologies in agriculture. The growers visited stalls of ICAR-CTRI and were apprised the Good Agricultural Practices in FCV tobacco cultivation.
v. Field Friend Teams:
The Tobacco Board has constituted Field Friends teams with Scientists from CTRI, field executives of major companies and Board’s Technical Officers and extended timely advises and suggestions to the growers on different aspects of tobacco cultivation.
vi. On farm Tests and Experimental Trials:
Tobacco Board has implemented “On Farm Tests and Experimental Trials” on impact of Natural Farming mode of FCV tobacco cultivation, varietal trials to test the efficacy of new varieties in comparison with existing varieties and for evaluation of the impact of KRB (Potassium Releasing Bacteria) application on crop quality and yield.
Board incurred an expenditure of Rs.11.11 lakhs for Karnataka and Rs.3.70 lakhs in Andhra Pradesh towards the financial incentives, extended to these growers as an encouragement for conducting the on farm trials in their fields and also for organizing field day programmes.
An incentive amount of Rs.5000/- per grower was also extended to 16 growers towards the production of quality produce in trial plots with very low to nil CPA residues.
vii. Model Project Area :
Board has implemented Model Project Area scheme in 19 villages in Andhra Pradesh and 10 villages in Karnataka to encourage farmers in these areas to adopt Good Agricultural Practices to enhance productivity and quality of FCV tobacco in a focused manner. Trade was also involved in developmental activities in MPA villages.
Financial assistance / input subsidies from Board are being credited into the individual saving bank accounts of growers through ‘Direct Benefit Transfer’(DBT) mode.
viii. Research Projects:
Board has sponsored the following Research Projects on mechanization and Bio- consortia at ICAR-CTRI and ICAR-CIAE in Co-ordination with trade for the benefit of tobacco growers to reduce the cost of cultivation particularly harvesting and curing and to produce CPA residue free tobacco.
- Development and Evaluation of Solar Thermal Energy based FCV tobacco curing systems
- Development and Evaluation of FCV tobacco Leaves Stringing Machine
- Evaluation of Loose Leaf Barn for reducing the wood fuel consumption in FCV tobacco curing
- Evaluation of Bio-Consortia for nutrient supplementation, nematode / disease control for enhancing productivity and quality of FCV tobacco.
- Evaluation of leaf holding spike rod developed by Board to reduce the labour component in tobacco stringing & destringing operations.