By OUR STAFF REPORTER
DEHRADUN, 23 Oct: A short-term training course on Nursery and Seed Technology is being organised by the Silviculture and Forest Management Division, Forest Research Institute (FRI), from 23 to 25 October. It is being sponsored by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), New Delhi, under its umbrella scheme on ‘Forestry Training and Capacity building’ for ‘Other Stakeholders’ of the Forestry sector. A total of 36 participants are enrolled for the training course who are from NGOs, Self Help Groups, Teachers, Farmers, Social Activists, College students, Tibetan Homes Foundation, Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan, from the states of Uttarakhand, UP and Himachal Pradesh. The training has been organised to sensitise non-forestry stakeholders on two important programmes of the Government of India – Green India Mission (GIM) and Green Skill Development through various lectures and practical demonstrations. Promoting skills for green jobs fosters investment in green activities and accelerates the green transformation and also would help in making personnel from non-forestry sector obtain these skills through training programmes and earn a livelihood. The training is structured to accommodate all related issues pertaining to nursery and seed technology for which experts from respective fields have been invited for delivering lectures and practical demonstrations. The training started with a welcome address and overview of the training programme by Dr Manisha Thapliyal, Course Coordinator. Arti Choudhary, Head, Silviculture Division, said that such training programmes are aimed at developing skills for livelihood generation, also. Arun Singh Rawat, Director, Forest Research Institute, stressed on the significance of such training programmes for people from non-forestry sectors and how they could contribute to the Government’s programme on Green India Mission and also earn livelihood through learning green skills under the Government schemes on Skill development. He said that the objective of such training programmes is to create awareness and train people on making contribution and involving them in growing quality planting stock, which would have an impact on enhancing the productivity of the plantations under various schemes. The participants will be oriented towards establishment and operationalising of Nursery operations, Bamboo propagation and economics of its cultivation, importance and nursery techniques of forestry, medicinal and ornamental species; insect-pest and fungal diseases of nursery and their management, soil fertility management in nursery and plantations, practical demonstration and hands-on, visit to the botanical garden, museums, herbarium, bambusetum, etc. There will also be an interactive session with the participants on the last day of the training in which the participants are going to share the work on nursery and plantations that they have been doing in their organisations. On this occasion other scientists of the division, Dr Dinesh Kumar, Dr Neelu Singh, Dr BP Tamta, Dr Ombir Singh and Dr Nawa Bahar were also present.
