As a part of FAO’s Green-Ag project, a two-day CDW on Sustainable Agriculture was organised at the Directorate of Agriculture, Aizawl, Mizoram from November 16 to17, 2022.  The purpose of the workshop was to deliberate and develop a Farmer Field School (FFS) curriculum with good agriculture practices for upland Rice and Mizo Chilli covering the entire crop cycle. Participants included: personnel from the Mizoram-State Project Management Unit (SPMU) and Green Landscape Implementation Unit (GLIU); Community Resource Persons (CRPs); and Government of Mizoram officials from the Departments for Agriculture, Horticulture, Soil conservation, and Irrigation.

Mrs Malsawmdawngliani, Joint Secretary, Agriculture Department-Mizoram presided as the Chief Guest. In her inaugural remarks, she highlighted that the project is focusing on a ‘bottom-up’ approach to ensure participation at all levels and promote ownership of the project in the State. She further encouraged all the Government officials to actively share their expertise to identify and suggest best pre-production and post-production practices that can be integrated for promoting sustainable agricultural practices in the state.

All the experts provided suggestions on state-specific best agricultural practices for pre- and post-production of upland Rice and Mizo Chilli, taking into account economic viability, environmental sustainability, social acceptability, food safety, and quality.

The participants concurred on the following curriculum topics:  soil and nutrient management; seed management and sowing; weed management; insect-pest management (biological; mechanical and chemical); water management; post-harvest technology and value addition; and gender inclusion.

Besides this, the group also discussed the support required at the institutional and policy levels. The curriculum will be finalised in consultation with the Directorate of Agriculture, Aizawl, Mizoram, for further implementation of specific commodity focussed FFS.