HIGH DENSITY FARMING
21./22.10.19 WORKSHOP ABOUT HIGH DENSITY FARMING
All over the year workshops and training for farmers and other participants are conducted at Kalasan Nursery Farm. These events provide both theoretical and practical learning with the help of videos, presentations, guest lectures and field visits.
On 21.-22.10.2019 a training on High Density Farming was organized by Gram Disha Trust and Kalasan Nursery Farm – Vikram Rawat and his family.
For those two days 10 members of GIZ (the German Society for International Cooperation) from Afghanistan were hosted directly at the farm.
After breakfast, the training started with a short introduction and every participant got a traditional himachali hat as a welcome present. The Agenda for the next days were presented through a PowerPoint Presentation, which was the guideline for this workshop.
First, the farm and its story were presented and supported by a short video. The background on High Density in Himachal Pradesh, Planning and Preparation of an orchard, Considerations in High Density Cultivations, Training Systems and Grafting Types used in KNF and Pruning are the main points, which were explained in the morning.
Whinin a short break, all participates got the chance to taste the apple juice produced in Himachal – Kullu.
After Lunch, the presentation started again with a discussion about the types of rootstocks, how they fit with different varieties and how to calculate the production per tree. Furthermore the farmers talked about harvesting and how to choose the right time. Afterwards KNF presented some of its most successful varieties and after a small tea break it was time for a field trip. Throughout the visit of the orchard, the farmers could observe all the new facts they had learned in the workshop, for example how KNF did the layout of the orchard or how the tall spindle system looks like.
The day ended with a delicious, fresh cooked dinner and some discussions about left questions.
The Second day started after breakfast with considerations, that were already discussed on the field trip: Soil and Plant health management and Organic Cultivation. The Afghan farmers were really interested in how to fertilize the soil and they could get an idea of what is used in KNF.
The next Point was an explanation in how to manage the Orchard and Nursery, especially how to grow new rootstocks. After a small tea break, Irrigation Management was the next topic. Lots of the Afghans are using flood irrigation and wanted to know more about the drip irrigation system which is used in KNF. Considerations of Pollination was also a big part of the workshop as well as all the important things that come within the post-harvest time.
KNF presented their Success Stories in Marketing and Promotion, showed some Pictures of the AppleFest2019, which was organized together with Delhi Organic Farmers Market and Jaivik Haat.
Furthermore there was another guest on the Farm: Nachiket Udupa. He provided the training on the Participatory Guarantee System (PGS).
The Lunch was the end of the theoretical part of the Workshop. The afternoon was used to visit Karsog, where the farmers could see, how KNF manages the Nursery and how the rootstocks look like after one, two or three years.
On the way back, the group also had the opportunity to observe the grading machine, which cleans and sorts the apples.
After dinner there was time to answer the last questions and give some feedback. The farmers were happy about their stay at Kalasan Nursery Farm and did learn a lot about the advantages of High Density Apple Farming.
For more photos click here.