Principal Scientist Dr. Anil Dixit receives ICAR Award for Tribal Farming Systems
22 July 2020, Raipur: Principal Scientist Dr. Anil Dixit (Agronomy) from ICAR-National Institute of Biotic Stress Management, Raipur received prestigious ICAR Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Award for Outstanding Research in Tribal Farming Systems.
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This award was given on 92nd Foundation day of ICAR through Video Conferencing by Union Agriculture Minister Mr. Narendra Singh Tomar. The award carries citation and cash prize of one lakh which will be shared among four scientists.
The research in Tribal Farming Systems was carried out in the community of Dantewada and Sukma district in Chhattisgarh.
The working team focused on restructuring certain aspects of tribal farming which hindered the farming practices and reduced yields. Identified focus areas had limitation of local varieties of rice, pulses and oilseeds; fragmented land holding, low productivity, early and mid season dry spell; negligible winter rain, labour problem during peak agriculture, migration to earn wage.
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The on-station experiments focused on the theme viz., rain water management, crops and cropping system, weed management, evaluation of improved varieties, energy management and alternate land use system.
Double cropping on lowlands of marginal and small farmers was targeted with community fencing. By changing the routine practices used by the tribal community, the results showed improved productivity and improved profitability of about 2-3 times in the targeted crops.
The team consisted of Dr Adikant Pradhan, Dr S.K.Nag, Dr Abhinav Sao from IGKV and Dr Anil Dixit from ICAR-NIBSM, Raipur.
