A three day National Level Meet of SDTT SRI Partners was organized at Amaltash, Ranchi, Jharkhand, from February 27 – March 1, 2013. The meet witnessed active participation of 69 participants representing the Government; partner NGOs in the SDTT programme, research institutions, scientists and notable persons from the social development sector. The meet was supported by the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT) and Allied Trusts, Mumbai and co-organized by Livolink Foundation, Bhubaneswar and Society for Promotion of Wastelands Development (SPWD), Ranchi. During the course of the event, the first two days comprised in-house discussions at Ranchi and on the final day a field exposure visit was organized to SWI project areas in Ranchi District.
The theme of this SRI partner’s meet supported by the Trusts was Agricultural Extension. SRI has been gradually evolving as more and more actors have been showing interest and making earnest effort to promote SRI for the benefit of the farming community. Civil Society has been playing a very crucial role in this regard. Collaborative efforts with Government, related departments, NABARD and with civil society are getting strengthened. Farmers are moving ahead to bring in innovations into SRI. In this backdrop, this meeting was organized as an opportunity wherein the focus on agricultural extension mechanism could be strengthened and establishing a definite plan of action in this context.
Representatives of partner-NGOs working under the SDTT-SRI programme were invited to share their experiences on SRI in their respective areas and thus facilitate greater cross learning. Specific thematic discussions with a focus on agricultural extension were duly accorded during the sessions. It helped partners to discuss about constraints in programme implementation and finding probable solutions. PowerPoint presentations, sub-group discussions, open-house deliberations and short films on SRI were showcased and formed part of the mode of deliberations in this two day meeting. Organizations engaged in production of paddy implements and machineries such as power weeders displayed relevant farm machineries was invited. An exclusive poster competition was co-currently held during the meeting in which partners displayed training and learning materials and other IEC materials on SRI for greater dissemination of related initiatives.
For details of the key presentations rendered in this meeting, please click on the TITLE below