Department of Information and Public Relations

Press Release No. 716/16

TRAINING PROGRAMME ON ORGANIC COMPOSTING

As a measure to promote the use of organic fertilizers, the Department of Agriculture, Government of Meghalaya in collaboration with “Billions in Change” on Monday organised a two-day Training Programme aimed at introduction of innovative compost making in the state of Meghalaya. Held at the Integrated Agricultural Training Centre (IATC), Upper Shillong, the inaugural day of the training programme saw the attendance of officials and functionaries from various Government Departments including the Departments of Agriculture, Community & Rural Development, Animal Husbandry & Veterinary and others. In his brief speech at the inaugural function, Programme Trainer, Mr.James Turner, a Permaculture Specialist from the United States of America reminded all gathered of the fact how mankind has been using energy reserves accumulated over millions of years, while also stating that such reserves, being finite resources eventually get exhausted through time and with continuous usage. He also emphasised on the utmost need for introduction of alternative sustainable resources in order to achieve the goal of sustainable development. ”Organic Composting is one of the tool from amongst the set of tools that would help create a productive system for farmers and the society in general”, he said. Commissioner& Secretary, Agriculture Department,Shri. P.S Kumar meanwhile informed that the motive of the two-day training programme is to skill field officials of Departments like Agriculture, CR& D and others in order that they can provide handholding support to the farmers at the grass root level with regards to organic composting. He also said that cost effective interventions such as these would help promote organic farming in the state. Also present at the inaugural programme were Shri.Rohit Suri, Adviser MBDA, Smt. D. Syiemiong, Director, Agriculture , Smt. B.War, Director, Meghalaya Agriculture Management and Extension Training Institute (MAMETI) among others. The first day of the training programme featured Programme Trainer, Mr.James Turner imparting theoretical know- how on innovative compost making through power point presentation followed by a Q&A interactive session with the participants, while the second day would feature practical exercises on innovative ways of making organic compost.