Gumla: In a push towards a green revolution, Gumla has set up one of the region’s largest community-managed grafted nurseries at Sipringa village under Raidih block. Managed by women farmers, the modern horticulture and farming unit is being seen as a milestone for women’s economic empowerment and climate-resilient agriculture.The nursery was inaugurated on Saturday by Gumla deputy commissioner Dileshwar Mahto and deputy development commissioner Animesh Ranjan in the presence of ICAR-Palandu, Ranchi scientists Dr P Bhavana, Dr Mahesh Dhakar and technician Dhanajay Kumar, along with representatives of NGO PRADAN, which is providing technical support.Spread over nearly one acre, the unit will supply disease-resistant grafted seedlings to farmers at affordable prices. It is managed by the producer group of Sipringa village, headed by Mangal Ram, while inward and outward linkages are handled by Ghaghra Women Farmer Producer Company Limited.“The nursery has the capacity to produce around 40 lakh grafted seedlings annually. It is currently preparing grafted brinjal and tomato, green chilli and capsicum seedlings that are resistant to bacterial wilt, one of the biggest challenges in vegetable cultivation,” said PRADAN district lead Md Meeraj Uddin.Mangal Ram said, “The producer group produced around 35,000 grafted seedlings during the pilot phase last year. The encouraging results prompted us to go for a major expansion, with production capacity now increased to nearly 12.7 lakh seedlings in each production cycle.”Around 550 linked farmers are expected to produce nearly 1,100 metric tonnes from the grafted plants. Grafting technology is expected to increase productivity nearly threefold, raising farm incomes, reducing crop losses and improving resilience to soil-borne diseases and climatic stress.“The grafted nursery established in Gumla is among the select grafting nurseries in Jharkhand. Its development came up through training provided to villagers with the support of the ICAR scientists and PRADAN is a major achievement for the district,” DC Mahto said.DDC Ranjan said, “The women-led enterprise will accord new momentum to the rural economy.”
