IIM Nagpur: Over 300 orange producers get training on innovative agricultural practices

NEW DELHI: More than 300 orange producers from Maharashtra's Nagpur and Amravati districts were given training on increasing productivity, dealing with climate change, biotic stress and other issues, at the Indian Institute of Management Nagpur (IIM-N), an official said on Tuesday.

A day-long training programme on good agriculture practices was organised on November 5 by Maharashtra Agribusiness Network (MAGNET) in association with IIM-N and Grant Thornton Bharat, a release by the institute stated. More than 300 orange cultivators from Nagpur and Amravati districts attended the workshop held on the IIM-N campus.

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MAGNET is an Asian Development Bank (ADB) assisted project to strengthen the horticulture value chain in the state, and Grant Thornton Bharat is its project implementation support consultant. The initiative is on a mission to train 30,000 horticulturists across the state. Key horticulture experts and progressive orange growers provided guidance to the farmers on innovative ways to increase productivity, climate change, handling biotic stress, technology adaption and implementation.

While explaining the idea behind conducting the training programme at IIM-N, the ADB's executive director Sameer Khare said, “MAGNET decided to tie up with institutes of national repute for capacity building and exchange of knowledge in a more effective manner. With various institutes involved in the process, knowledge sharing becomes easier under various government projects." Khare appreciated the state government's decision to assign IIM-N for the project.

Additional chief secretary cooperation and marketing (Maharashtra) Anoop Kuma said, “The ADB will provide loans to promote agribusiness network and boost incomes across the state. The project is expected to benefit 200,000 farmers." While addressing farmers, executive director, ADB Chantale Wong showed keen interest in soil issues and climate change.

She pointed out that overuse of fertilisers, pesticides along with climate change have increasingly started impacting the world, the release said. “Today, migration from rural to urban India is the biggest issue. Smart agriculture is going to play a very important role in the development of our country,” country director ADB Dr Bhimraya Metri said.