By OUR STAFF REPORTER
Dehradun, 15 Sep: With a view to orient the newly recruited Technical Assistants as also Technical Assistants already engaged in various Divisions of FRI, Dehradun, and also as part of the HRD Plan of ICFRE, the Extension Division of Forest Research Institute conducted half day training on “Market mechanism of Agroforestry products”.
Richa Misra, Head, Extension Division, welcomed Arun Singh Rawat, Director General, Indian Council of Forestry Research & Education, and Director, FRI, and gave a brief background about the training. Arun Singh Rawat inaugurated the training and, in his inaugural address, said that in the institute, all Technical Assistants and Technicians are engaged in Divisions of FRI but needed to be exposed to the various activities carried out by these divisions. Hence, the training would certainly be beneficial to all participants in developing an overview of the agroforestry system and its marketing. He also mentioned the scenario of demand and supply in the country and said that gap between demand and supply could be filled the adoption of agroforestry on a large scale given that marketing linkages were robust.
During technical sessions, Dr Charan Singh, Scientist-E, Extension Division, delivered a lecture on Agroforestry and Agroforestry products. He mentioned that Agroforestry could be beneficial to farmers if practiced in a scientific way as there was a market for agroforestry products. He gave a detailed account of agroforestry systems and spoke about the selection of agroforestry species according to site and ecological conditions.
Dr DP Khali delivered a lecture on ‘Value addition to Agroforestry products for effective Marketing. He spoke about wood processing based technologies developed by the institute and their benefit to farmers. He mentioned that wood could be substantially improved through scientific processing. He spoke about wood seasoning, plywood making and wood preservation through eco-friendly wood preservatives.
Dr HP Singh delivered a talk on ‘Marketing of agroforestry products and criteria and methods of Market Survey’. He also spoke about farm forestry survey and mentioned that it was helpful for assessment of farm forestry produce in a particular season and could be linked with market trends. He suggested that the marketing chain be made simple so that farmers could search markets easily to sell their products.
After successful completion of the programme, Richa Misra distributed certificates to all participants. The programme ended with a vote of thanks by Dr Rambir Singh, Scientist-D, Extension Division. The anchoring of the programme was done by Dr Charan Singh, Scientist-E, Extension Division. Other members of the team including Dr Devendra Kumar, Scientist-E, Ajay Gulati, Assistant Chief Technical Officer, Vijay Kumar, ACF and Preet Pal Singh, Dy Ranger helped make the programme a successful one.
