Itanagar, Sep 27 (Representative) National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD)’s Itanagar Regional Office General Manager Damodar Mishra on Tuesday launched the ‘’Integrated Tribal Development Project’’. The project was sanctioned by NABARD for Lower Subansiri district, at Billo village in Yazali under the district’s Ziro II Block and it was launched by the GM in the presence of Yachuli Circle Officer Chukhu Taba, NABARD AGM O P Mounglang and others. Speaking on the occasion, the GM said that NABARD has been supporting tribal development throughout India and it is one of NABARD’s many interventions for ‘promoting agriculture and rural development’. He said the objective of the Project is to enhance the income level of the farmers, increase social capital of the area, improve literacy level and health status, empower women, get livelihood opportunities and generate employment opportunities throughout the year. Mishra emphasized that a project of this nature could be made successful only if all the stakeholders contributed whole-heartedly and own the project.
The GM said more such interventions in the state could be thought of with the support of the state machinery, NGOs depending upon the interest and enthusiasm of the local farmers and success of this project. NABARD’s District Development Manager (DDM) Mewang Lowang gave a brief outline about the Integrated Tribal Development Project. He said the major components of the project include orchard development (fruit/plantation crops & forest plants) (the core component); soil conservation in the orchards; water resources management; sustainable agriculture; women development through components such as drudgery reduction measures, on-farm and off-farm income generating activities and formation of FPO for collectivization, processing & marketing of produce and community health. These interventions will directly benefit 200 tribal families by enhancing their livelihood through horticulture based cultivation as an alternative means of livelihood and will be implemented in 12 villages comprising 200 families in Yazali circle of Lower Subansiri district, he said. The crops and other project components chosen are designed to give a steady stream of income over a long period and provide sustainable employment to the local farmers.
Further, he said that the project was also to create a replicable models of integrated development of tribal families, on participatory basis, through adoption of sustainable income generating activities based on potential of the area and the local needs; build and explore the prospects of creating an agricultural value chain and involving Farmers’ Producer Organizations (FPOs) for enhancing project impact, marketing and sustainability. CO Taba Chukhu, who belongs to the Project area, thanked NABARD for sanctioning the project and the World Vision India for implementing the project. He urged the farmers to think beyond the subsistence level and take advantage of the training and hand-holding provided under the project to fulfill the true potential. Chhuku advised to make use of the available resources most judiciously and take maximum advantage of the project. He also advised the Gram Panchayat Members to prepare micro plans at ground level keeping in view the gaps to be filled where Government support in any form has still not reached and to ensure that schemes/projects are not overlapped. The CO promised to extend all cooperation from the district administration side in implementation of the project.