Wastelands covering thousands of hectares in area have been developed for farm forestry through the cooperative model. The Indian Farm Forestry Development Cooperative limited (IFFDC), Gurgaon, project manager RK Dwivedi said this at the start of a brief term training programme on plantation technology for personnel of the IFFDC organised by the silviculture division of the Forest Research Institute here on Wednesday. Speaking on the occasion, Dwivedi spoke of the various plantation activities of IFFDC in stakeholder states of India and briefly explained about the afforestation and farm-forestry activities of IFFDC.
He said that the cooperative had developed thousands of hectares of wastelands as farm forestry through different cooperatives in various Indian States thus providing employment opportunities to marginalised sections of society. Addressing the gathering on the occasion, the FRI director Savita opined that the IFFDC is doing commendable work on afforestation and development of wasteland through tree plantation. Such efforts are also contributing towards enhancement of the socio-economic status of the rural poor through sustainable natural resource management by collective action of the society and this training will provide scientific inputs on nursery raising and plantation management, she said.
The institute’s silviculture division head Neelu Gera expressed hope that the participants will benefit from the course and gain knowledge from the scientific inputs on various aspects which would be applied to practices in the field. Earlier, the course coordinator Manisha Thapliyal gave a detailed report of the course stating that more emphasis is being laid on the aspects of practical exposure in nursery and plantation activities. The training module includes the techniques of seed technology, nursery and plantation techniques of important tree species of the States concerned, different agro-forestry models and the cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants among others.
The training lectures will also include issues like soil fertility management in nursery and plantations, afforestation of difficult sites and management of fungal and insect-pest diseases in nursery and plantations, she added. According to the institute, the brief training is being organised on special request from the IFFDC chief executive officer with 26 personnel of the IFFDC from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and West Bengal taking part in the programme.