Tribal Development Fund (TDF) Kiwi Project supported by NABARD

ECS obtained the Tribal Development Fund (TDF) project sponsored by NABARD to engage 200 farmers from Konya and Chendang villages of Noklak Block for Kiwi farming. Apart from Kiwi, large cardamom which is a shade loving crop is grown as an intercrop to generate additional income for the farmers by utilizing the inter row spaces, along with green peas, soyabean, and potato as an additional effort from the farmers.

The project is envisaged to empower the farmers through community participation, marketing of products through Collective Marketing under Farmers Club and focusing on development of small fruit orchards and restoration of cultivated land through various agricultural intervention and soil & water conservation measures. The project is implemented with close collaboration with the line departments and technical institutions such as KVK Tuensang for availing technical support, inputs and marketing of produce.

KVK Tuensang, apart from providing technical services, has contributed a quintal of field pea seeds which were distributed to 100 farmers. The farmers have also taken the initiative to construct fishponds, in Chendang (10 families) and Konya (20 families) which is integrated in the Wadis. Soil conservation and water conservation technology has been applied in the farms through ECS intervention. An irrigation canal which was constructed by water resource development of Nagaland was revived with some innovations which is now benefitting the farmers.

At the initial set up stage, the project first suffered a 30% mortality due to unhealthy saplings. This was then replaced by another 10000 saplings from Pfutsero which has shown cent percent survival. Trainings on pest management, nutrient management, and disease management was conducted by the project. Training on income generation activities were also conducted where farmers were encouraged to include both kharif and rabi cropping in their farming cycles. The kiwi vineyard management techniques such as trimming and pruning at timely intervals were taught to the farmers. The District Horticulture Officer along with model farmers from Pfutsero visited the project and conducted technical, hands-on trainings with practical demonstration on site which was very beneficial for the farmers.