ICAR-Directorate of Weed Research, Jabalpur organized 8 days Model Training Course on “Weed Management in Conservation Agriculture System” during 15-22 December, 2015 financed by Directorate of Extension, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India. The training programme was inaugurated on 15 December by Dr. S.K. Jain, Director Extension Services, Nanaji Deshmukh Veterinary Science University, Jabalpur. Total 26 agriculture officers and subject matter specialist from 9 states and 6 KVKs attended the training programme. The training course involved theory classes as well as practical exercises on different aspect of weed management and conservation agriculture system by the faculty of this Directorate and the experts invited from other Institutions, (like, JNKVV, Jabalpur; ICAR-IIVR, Varanasi; ICAR-IISR, Lukhnow and ICAR-NIBSM, Raipur) The trainees were also taken to DWR farm, BISA farm, JNKVV farm and farmers fields as fields exposer visit.

In the valedictory function held on 22nd December, 2015 Mr. K.S. Netam, Joint Director, State Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, M.P. was the Chief Guest. In his address, he highlighted the importance of conservation agriculture as a viable alternative to conventional agricultural practices that are having obvious negative impact on the environment. Dr. A.R. Sharma, Director, ICAR-DWR emphasised on use of improved weed management practices in conservation agriculture for upliftment of social and financial status of the farmers. He emphasized on need of interdisciplinary research and focused on the importance and purpose of the training. He hoped that after taking this training, participants will be able to deal with the weed management problems under conservation agriculture system in their respective States.

Dr. P.K. Singh, Course Director of the training programme urged the participants to spread these technologies among farmers as a new way of agricultural production in order to attain higher yields with less labour, less water and fewer inputs.