National Food Security Mission in Nagaland to be implemented by the department of agriculture took off in Kohima district in the month of June 2012 by launching the System for Rice Intensification (SRI) campaign in 15 selected clusters in Kohima Sadar and 5 clusters in Tseminyu sub division.

Kohima district, where WTRC comprises of more than 60% of paddy cultivation, SRI technology of paddy cultivation is a viable farmer’s friendly method for increasing productivity of paddy while reducing man power in the nursery raising and avenues for mechanization. During 2011, district agriculture office Kohima conducted a trial on SRI with HYV MTU 1010 with an objective to train field functionaries. The trial observation result in 20% increase over conventional method.

Front line SRI Demonstrations and trainings were already conducted in the selected clusters. Taking advantage of the late monsoon, the district is also taking up contingency measures in affected villages through conducting training and front line demonstrations (FLD) in affected areas.

In view of paddy seedlings getting over-matured while waiting for sufficient rain to meet field requirement, farmers are trained to select seeds, raised nursery beds and keep healthy seedlings ready for transplanting within a time span of 8-14 days.

The variety recommended were MTU-I010, a short duration variety of 120-125 days provided by the department through NFSM and also any other local variety which are of short duration with good tillering capacity. The operation is aimed to salvage the farmer’s paddy cultivation in the later part of monsoon season i.e. by the end of July or beginning of August.