SCHEMES UNDER EARMARKED SECTOR
- Integrated Land Development under Negotiated Loan (ILD): – Land and Water are the most vital natural resources that provide the needs of the food, fiber, fuel etc. The State is confronted with a situation in which only soil has to be conserved but a sustainable infrastructural development that can give modification or alternative to shifting cultivation needs to be evolved to enable people to produce sufficient food grain for their sustenance, growth and wellbeing in addition to conservation of ecology and environment.
One of the surest of achieving these objectives are to accept the land development with terracing in the hilly slopes, land development in rolling terrain by using heavy machineries and organic manures application of the developed areas for permanent cultivation of crops. Therefore, large scale development of land, Water Harvesting Pond (WHP) and Vermicomposting is imperative. The water management has been taken up as a State Earmarked Sector Scheme in order to create infrastructure for increasing crop production and to stabilize the degradation under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF), Negotiated Loan from NABARD has sanctioned with an outlay of Rs. 1538.40 lakhs.
During 2020-21, the Department has developed 124 Ha. of permanent Bench Terracing amounting to ₹ 248.00 lakhs, and 139 Units of Vermicomposting for organic manure inputs amounting to ₹ 34.75 lakhs in 62 Projects covering all the 11 Districts in the State.
NEC SCHEMES:
- Establishment of State Soil Testing Laboratory Building at Kohima, Nagaland: –
Regular updation of the soil physico-chemical properties is a necessity so as to determine its capability and productivity for sustainable agriculture. To realize this objective, establishment of soil testing laboratory is of paramount importance. The department of Soil and Water Conservation therefore proposed for establishment of Soil testing laboratory building at Kohima under NEC scheme. This laboratory is envisioned for installation with the state-of-the-art equipment so as to enable systematic collection of soil samples and analysis thereby generating the test reports through soil health cards. The laboratory will be equipped with more compatible instruments to analyze both macro and micro nutrients.
With the establishment of soil testing laboratory, it is envisioned that the farmers and stakeholders are catered with concrete and reliable information on soil health and its management for economic production. The total cost of the project is ₹ 371.70 Lakhs.
CENTRALLY SPONSORED SCHEMES:
- Mitigation of Flood and River Bank Erosion in Nagaland through Integrated Catchment Area Treatment Approach, Flood management component under flood management and border areas programme (ICAT): –
In Nagaland, the flow velocity of streams and rivers are swift and erosive during the peak rainfall season. This is due to large scale deforestation and shifting cultivation on rolling topography. Study revealed that land exposed directly to rain could retain only 20% of rain water as stored soil moisture by means of percolation and infiltration whereas, 80% of rain water were lost as surface runoff. In the process of high runoff, a very good amount of top fertile soil is eroded. According to ICAR reports the average top soil erosion during the cropping period is 44MT/Ha/year and it could be as high as over 100MT/Ha/year. The havoc of these atrocities is resulting to flood, stream bank erosion and sedimentation in the downstream causing serious damage to valuable forest and agricultural land. On the other hand, the catchment areas tend to experience poor soil moisture retention and fertility. Therefore, it has become imperative to take up soil and water conservation measures to mitigate these problems. It is reported that providing soil and water conservation measures, surface runoff can be reduced from 80% to 40% and thereby conserve 60% of rain water that will induce soil moisture and also recharge drying streams and rivers. Thus, the Department of Soil and Water Conservation, Government of Nagaland have formulated the scheme known as Mitigation of Flood and River Bank Erosion in Nagaland through Integrated Catchment Area Treatment Approach in order reduce the flow velocity of the surface runoff water at the same time arrest soil erosion which is causing siltation of riverbeds.
The department has prepared 12 nos of projects for all districts of Nagaland. The total cost of the project is ₹14,592.26 lakhs (Rupees fourteen thousand five hundred ninety-two lakhs and twenty-six thousand) only. The funding pattern is 70:30 i.e Central share and state share, respectively. The projects proposed to give Catchment Area Treatment to an area of 30,870 ha with 19,038 nos of Soil and Water Conservation Structures and 160 km of footpath. Out of 12 projects, the Ministry of Jal Shakti erstwhile Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation under Flood Management Component of the Flood Management and Border Areas Programme (FMBAP) on a pilot project basis has funded for implementation of 3(three) prioritized projects namely Upper Sidzu in Kohima and Phek Districts covering 16 villages, Nanga-Mela Ghoki in Zunheboto district covering 16 villages and Dzuma sub-watersheds in Dimapur district covering 15 villages with effect from 2016-17.
- Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY): – The Department of Soil & Water Conservation is implementing flagship RKVY programme throughout the State with emphasis to tackle the persistent environment problems, promote sustainable farming, optimise crop production and to protect the environment simultaneously. Various conservation technologies are being executed at the field level such as Bench Terracing, WHP, Vermicomposting and contour trenching. These measures are undertaken to reduce soil erosion, arrest surface run-off to the extent possible and impound water for multiple restoring the health of the environment. The programme is being implemented in all over Nagaland covering 108 villages. An amount of ₹ 300.00 Lakhs is anticipated to be spent under the scheme to develop 500 Ha. under land development, 90 units of WHP, 162 units of vermicomposting and 300 Ha of contour trenching under TSP (Tribal Sub Plan).
- National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA): –
Soil Health Management & Soil Health Card
Sustainability of an agricultural productivity depends on quality and availability of natural resources like soil and water. Thus, to promote conservation and sustainable use of these scarce natural resources the INM Division of Department of Agriculture & Cooperation, MoA& FW, GOI, is implementing Soil Health Management (SHM) & Soil Health Card (SHC) Scheme across the country for location specific soil management and one of the most important interventions under National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA).
SHM is aimed at promoting location as well as crop specific sustainable soil health management, creating and linking soil fertility maps with macro- micro nutrient management, judicious application of fertilizers and organic farming practices.
Soil Health Card (SHC) Scheme in the state is implemented with following objectives-
- To issue soil health cards every 3 years, to all farmers of the country, so as to provide a basis to address nutrient deficiencies in fertilization practices.
- To strengthen functioning of Soil Testing Laboratories (STLs) through capacity building, involvement of agriculture students and effective linkage with Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) / State Agricultural Universities (SAUs).
- To diagnose soil fertility related constraints with standardized procedures for sampling uniformly across states and analysis and design taluqa / block level fertilizer recommendations in targeted districts.
- To develop and promote soil test based nutrient management in the districts for enhancing nutrient use efficiency.
- To build capacities of district and state level staff and of progressive farmers for promotion of nutrient management practices.
It also ensures quality control requirements of fertilizers, bio-fertilizers and organic fertilisers, Promotion of Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) through judicious use of chemical fertilizers, including secondary and micro nutrients, in conjunction with organic manures and bio-fertilizers, for improving soil health and its productivity.
In line with the guidelines and the objective set by the Ministry the department during 2020-21 has taken up Farmer’s training and Demonstration in 222 villages covering all the 74 blocks of the state at the rate of 3(three) villages per block under Soil Health Card Scheme amounting to ₹60 lakhs only.
Under Soil Health Management Scheme the department has received additional funds for setting up of Referral Soil Testing Lab (STL) at Directorate Office, Kohima, 1 (one) STL at DSCO Office, Kohima and 1 (one) at SDO (SC) Office, Seyochung, Kiphire aspirational district, 1 (one) each of Fertilizer Quality Control Lab (FQCL) & Bio Organic Quality Control Lab (BOQCL) at Kohima District, Village level Soil Testing Labs in all 74 blocks, 3 (three) Mobile STL to cover the remote areas of the state, Promotion and Distribution of Micro nutrients covering 55, 500 ha, Strengthening of STL at Medziphema, 2 (two) nos. of Bio Fertilizer Production Units at Seyochung, Kiphire (Aspirational district) & Rotomi, Zunheboto amounting to ₹1648.00 lakh only.
4. Digital Agriculture Mission (DAM) under the National e-Governance Plan in Agriculture (NeGPA)
The terrain of Nagaland is hilly and undulating with sporadic steep slopes in most of the districts. There are mountain slopes with a high degree of slopes preventing the survey to be conducted. Therefore, the cost of manual/ traditional method of survey also is inflated due to the topographical difficulties. There is no real time GIS monitoring and management system for monitoring information. The State is also faced with a disaster like situation due to unprecedented flash floods during monsoon, cloud bursts and drought in some years creating livelihood fear especially for farmers. Another important concern is that Nagaland along with other North Eastern States has very limited access to Satellite data unobstructed by clouds due to its location and climatic condition. Hence, the use of UAV system has become an alternative solution for real time image capturing and also for its application in many different areas of utilities.
In Nagaland, agriculture is the major source of employment. Viewed from the socio- economic point, agriculture is the most important sector that needs focus and attention at all levels. The call of the Government of India to achieve the goal of Doubling Farmer’s Income
(DFI) by 2022, in a way, epitomizes the need to pursue all possible ways of increasing the agricultural productivity and profitability of the farmers through Sustainable Development Goals. Digital Agriculture mission is focused on ITC intervention in Agriculture to deliver best possible solution to farmer in real-time and so that farmer get highest possible benefit. A holistic approach to adoption of digital technologies, the critical role of data, the requirement to ensure that the farmer has agency and control over his/her data, the paramount importance of privacy through protection of personal data, and the need to leverage emerging technologies for precision agriculture are key takeaways of the project. It envisages the development of an Integrated Web based Geo-portal and mobile application based on geo-cloud-oriented architecture that will provide a comprehensive solution for monitoring, management and dissemination of information. Also, to introduce the Smart Farming concept to enable the farmer to have access to soil data, and real time data of crop using Internet of Things technologies. The use of Drone Technology, IoT, Space Technology, GIS, Remote Sensing had been incorporated to achieve our goals for more productive and profitable farming; and attaining sustainable agricultural development under the Digital Agriculture Mission. The proposed project will entail the generation of geospatial information on physical landforms such as large- scale mapping of Natural Resources, Soil, Water Resource potential, Agriculture and allied sector management and development which is key to any developmental planning. The approved total project cost under Digital Agriculture Mission (DAM) is Rs. 1097.50 Lakh (Rupees ten crores ninety-seven lakhs fifty thousand only). The funding pattern for the project is 90:10, an amount of Rs. 304.7225 Lakh was released as 1st instalment in the year 2021-22 with Rs. 274.25 Lakh as Central share and Rs. 30.4725 Lakh as State share. The anticipated fund to be released during the year 2022-23 is Rs. 792.78 Lakh (Rupees seven crores ninety-two lakhs and seventy-eight thousand only).