BARA: The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Agriculture Department have organised Orchards management training for farmers of Bara Tehsil here at Bara Aka Khel form house.
A total of 25 farmers from the tehsil participated in the training program which concluded on Wednesday.
The farmers from Bara Tehsil were trained by agriculture experts and were imparted relevant techniques for the proper growth of fruit orchards. The farmers were also imparted techniques of better dairy farming, Dairy management, group farming and modern agriculture techniques.
Talking about the Orchard management training, the agriculture officer of tehsil, Zakia Menhas has told the media that the training session was organized with the support of food and agriculture organization in order to promote agriculture sector in the tribal district.
Zakia Menhas added that the training will enable the farmers to earn more from their agriculture lands in tribal districts. She also added that since the internally displaced persons (IDPs) are coming back to the native areas, the government has planned to bring the barren lands under cultivation. Therefore, Zakia added, there is a need to train the farmers.
The agriculture officer added that with the support of Food and agriculture organization, and other non-governmental organization, they are working to provide all facilities to the farmers of Bara Tehsil. In reply to a question, Zakia Menhas said that a total of 2000 local farmers have registered themselves with the agriculture department who will be provided quality seeds, fertilizers and agriculture machinery.
She revealed that so far 30,000 fruit trees have been distributed among the farmers of the Tirah valley for better farming. The agriculture officer added that they are also planning to persuade the farmers to adopt saffron crop instead of illegal crops such as poppy. She added that Saffron crop will prove more beneficial to the farmers than poppy.
