Promote local crops and products: Dr Sharma 

The Scientific Advisory Committee(SAC) meeting of Krishi Vigyan Kendra(KVK) Lahaul and Spiti-II at Tabo was organised recently. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Ravinder Sharma, Director of Research, Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry (UHF), Nauni.
 
Dr. Divender Gupta, UHF Director of Extension Education, Gunjeet Singh Cheema, SDM Spiti along with members from the different line departments and farmer members attended the meeting while Dr. Rajbir Singh, Director, ICAR-ATARI-Zone I participated virtually. In his welcome address, Dr. Gupta highlighted the work done by KVK Tabo and its impact on the farming community of Spiti valley. He focused on the need for diversification and the use of digital tools for the dissemination of technical know-how. Dr. Sudhir Verma, Head, KVK Tabo presented a brief report on the activities of the KVK carried out last year and the annual Action Plan for the upcoming year.
 
Dr. Sharma stressed on being vocal for local and promoting local crops and products. He emphasized on the involvement of local farmers in post-harvest of products using indigenous technical knowledge. He also asked the scientists to use geo indicators for promoting indigenous products. He urged the KVK staff to work on post-harvest of local coarse grains like barley and wheat, testing different genotypes of pea for suitability in Spiti valley and promoting tribal food products. 
 
Dr. Sharma also advised the KVK to promote agriculture, horticulture and agroforestry among the school students for a better understanding of science and to create interest among them. The SAC members also appreciated the efforts of KVK in promoting crop diversification, providing vegetable and fruit nurseries, advisories and providing the latest technical knowledge through demonstrations and training programmes. 
 
The participants also visited the KVK main farm and reviewed various ongoing operations and research trials including trials on high-density apple planting under HP-HDP. Field visits to various On-farm trials and Front Line Demonstrations at farmers’ fields in different villages of Spiti were also conducted. The Kendra also organised training camps in which vegetable nurseries were distributed among farmers to promote crop diversification at Kurith, Maane, Chicham and Lossar of Spiti valley.