ICAR-CIARI provides farmers in Assam and West Bengal with training in contemporary pig farming

Two training courses on “Modern Pig Farming Practices” were conducted by the Central Island Agricultural Research Institute (CIARI), ICAR-Sri Vijaya Puram, in West Bengal and Assam, respectively. Supported by the Scheduled Caste Component of the All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Pig and the North Eastern Hill (NEH) budget, the program sought to advance scientific pig farming for farmers’ economic emancipation. In cooperation with Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Kharua, Assam, the first training session was held there. The seminar was attended by 151 pig farmers, the majority of whom were women from the Bodo community, an ethnolinguistic minority that speaks Tibeto-Burman. In order to promote the adoption of contemporary farming methods under the NEH component of the AICRP on Pig, 35 tons of balanced pig feed were given to the farmers after the session.

In the presence of Dr. Debjit Deka, Subject Matter Specialist (Animal Science) at KVK, Kharua, the program was organized by Dr. A.K. De, Senior Scientist and Principal Investigator, AICRP-Pig Improvement, and Dr. Debasis Bhattacharya, Principal Scientist, ICAR-CIARI. 26 Scheduled Caste farmers benefited from another training session that was conducted the next day at the Kalyani campus of the Eastern Regional Station of the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Nadia, West Bengal. In order to support scientific pig farming and enhance the farmers’ financial circumstances, 12.4 tons of balanced pig feed and digital electronic weighing scales were given to them as part of this program.