Mandate & Activity

The Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Koderma (Jharkhand) is ICAR ICAR - National Rice Research Institute,Cuttack, Odisha through it’s unit Central Rainfed Upland Rice research Station at Hazaribag, Jharkhand and started functioning on 7 th February 2005 with the mandate of Technology Assessment and Demonstration for its Application and Capacity Development. To implement the mandate effectively, the following activities are envisaged for the KVK .

On-farm testing to assess the location specificity of agricultural technologies under various farming systems.
Frontline demonstrations to establish production potential of technologies on the farmers’ fields.
Capacity development of farmers and extension personnel to update their knowledge and skills on modern agricultural technologies.
To work as Knowledge and Resource Centre of agricultural technologies for supporting initiatives of public, private and voluntary sector in improving the agricultural economy of the district.
Provide farm advisories using ICT and other media means on varied subjects of interest to farmers.

Objectives

Krishi Vigyan Kendra performs its activities as per the mandate set by the ICAR, New Delhi. Objectives of the KVK are as follows :
Specific objectives of KVK, Koderma based on mandates and activities set by the ICAR ar as follows

To organize on and off campus training programmes for farmers, rural women, youth, and officers of the Department of Agriculture to make them aware about the latest technologies in agriculture.
To organize short and long term vocational training courses on vegetable, floriculture, beekeeping, dairying, mushroom, organic farming and protective cultivation etc. for rural youth for self-employment.
To arrange conduct front-line demonstrations and on-farm trials at farmer’s fields on improved technologies and refinement of existing technology so as to suit the need of the farmer.

Activities of KVK

On-farm testing to identify the location specificity of agricultural technologies under various farming systems.
Front-line demonstrations to establish production potentials of technologies on the farmers’ fields.
Training of farmers to update their knowledge and skills in modern agricultural technologies.
Training of extension personnel to orient them in the frontier areas of technology development. and
Training of Rural youth for income generation.
Activities. Act as resource and knowledge centre of agricultural technology for supporting initiatives of public, private and voluntary sector for improving the agricultural economy of the district.

On the basis of survey reports, it was decided to focus on the following activities:z

Skill upgradation, entrepreneurship development and Resource Conservation.
Quality seed production of different cereals, leguminous, oilseeds, vegetables, fruits and other crops at farmer’s field.
Popularization of Conservation Agriculture Technologies.
Drudgery reduction and farm and farm women mechanization in Agriculture.
Use of ITKs for sustainable agriculture.
Establishment of model nursery for production of quality planting material for different horticultural crops.
To train the rural youth for income generation through Mushroom cultivation and lac cultivation.
Income generation activities for rural youth through value addition and preservation of seasonal fruit and vegetable.
Entrepreneurship development in rural women.

Since its inception, efforts have been made for the development of farm of the KVK. Water harvesting structures have been rejuvenated to ensure the water availability during the non-monsoon period. The KVK has three major water harvesting bodies and seven numbers of wells. The farm has been developed and research plots demarcated through the construction of farm roads and field bunds. KVK has full-fledged demonstration-cum- production units. A total of a 1.2 -acre area in the farm has been planted with different fruits, and timber species for conducting on-farm trials on horticulture and agro-forestry. During the year 2017-18, On-farm demonstrations on off-season cultivation of Chilli, Brinjal, tomato, cowpea, bottle gourd ,Cauliflower,Cabbage, Knolkhol, capcium, chiness cabbage, radish, onion, and, improved cultivation practices of rice, ragi, arhar, maize, vegetable soybean, turmeric, mustard, chickpea, linseed, wheat, fruit-based multitier cropping system, high density orchards of guava, mango and jackfruit were carried out. For prioritization of objectives of the KVK, surveys were undertaken in different parts of the district. Latest method of the survey, involving agro-ecosystem analysis tools, was used for identifying the problems and needs of the farmers. Personal discussions with farmers during their visit to the KVK were also used as a tool for identification of the problems related to agriculture.

On the basis of surveys and personal discussion, Krishi Vigyan Kendra has found following problems in its operational area :

S. No.	Problem Area	Major Problemst
1	Crop Science	Non-availability of quality seed. Low productivity of major crops and dependency on hybrids seed of paddy. Limited water resources for irrigation. Open grazing by animals is a constraint for the second crop. Awareness about conservation cultivation technique and harvesting the Kharif moisture for rabi season crops such as pulse and oilseed crop. Post-harvest losses and monocropping. Poor plant protection management and lack of awareness about biocontrol and IPM methods. Due to late transplanting and use only urea as fertilizer paddy stem borer, and paddy leaf feeder and paddy gall midge are becoming a serious problem. Lack of location-specific forecasting and advisory regarding agronomic practices, fertilizer, insect and disease invasion and the package of practices. Lack of awareness of the new variety of sweet potato, sweet corn, groundnut and chickpea.
2	Home Science	Poor health of female and child due to unavailability of the balanced diet. Male-based decision execution system has created a gap between intervention and adoption. Lack of awareness about ICT and its linkage. Lack of motivational course for rural youth for creation interest regarding profit based hi-tech agriculture. Lack of awareness about livelihood option for food and nutritional security. Lack of awareness about Judiciously use and conservation mode utilization of natural recourses. Lack of awareness about credit facilities. Lack of farmers group based on the interest of tendency. Lack of awareness about the mushroom cultivation, lac cultivation ,Nutritional Kitchen Garden, and orchard. Lack of updated extension machinery for advisory and implementing the scheme for farm women for drudgery reduction.
3	Soil & Water Management	Lack of awareness about the use of Urea, DAP and potash fertilizer without recommended doses. Lack of awareness about water use efficiency and conservation method in rainfed area based farming. Lack of Awareness about soil health and soil testing. Lack of awareness about conservation of natural source and planning according to availability for increasing the cropping intensity. Lack of awareness for acidic soil reclamation and lime application.
4	Veterinary Science	Inadequate descriptive/prolific breed of livestock. Inadequate health care of livestock. Poor feed resources and fodder storage method. Non - availability of quality fish seed. Poor maintenance of fish ponds. Lack of awareness community-based animal husbandry like piggery for tribal community, Dairying and poultry surrounding the city and goatary in the village for rural youth.
5	Horticulture	Lack of awareness about control of primary infection of disease and pest. Lack of awareness about smart planning of vegetable production regarding market based demand and strategy. Wilting in Tomato, Capsicum, chili and brinjal are serious problem. Lack of awareness about Viruses and micro nutrient deficiency diagnosis is becoming the cost of production increasing issue. Lack of awareness about Poly house, Net House and drip irrigation based vegetable cultivation. late blight of potato are serious problem.
6	Others	Lack of awareness about progressive farmer group to facilitate to each other. Scattered poor farm holding size and minimum mechanization. Illegal Coal mining engaging rural youth, resulting in creating disinterest in agriculture is a major challenge. Lack of area-based strategy to create interest and make profitable farming. for retaining the youth in agriculture. Lack of assessment of climate change on location specific and crop cycle. Lack of awareness about cooperative farming and group farming.