A Farmer-Scientist Interaction Meet cum Field Monitoring Visit was organized on November 26, 2025 under the Farmer FIRST Project (FFP) at the adopted village cluster comprising Haridamada, Jamujhari, and Barapita in Khordha district. The visiting team from ICAR-NAARM, Hyderabad comprising Dr. R. Venkat Kumar, Head, Division of Extension Systems Management, Dr. P. Venkatesan, Principal Scientist & PI (FFP), Dr. Laxman Ahire, CTO and Dr. Kalyani Tirumala, Consultant (FFP), besides Dr. S.K. Mishra, Principal Scientist & PI (FFP) and project staff of the Institute actively participated and contributed in the programme. At the outset, Dr. Mishra welcomed the visiting scientists, project staff, and participating farmers, and provided an overview of the project’s key interventions and achievements since 2022-23. The team visited farmers’ fields and various demonstration units to monitor ongoing activities, which included, bio-fortified & climate resilient HYV kharif paddy demonstrations, vegetable cultivation (like, bitter gourd, tomato, cauliflower, beans, cowpea, etc.), gravity-fed drip irrigation in pineapple, nutri-gardens in the backyard, pond aquaculture, scientific dairy farming, goat farming, vermi-composting, dugout sunken ponds, and mini IFS models etc. The visiting scientists interacted with farmers at each site and appreciated their adoption of improved and climate-resilient agricultural practices and collected their feedback. Dr. Venkatesan and team expressed satisfaction with the field activities on diversified enterprises and technologies, and motivated the farmers, particularly rural youths, to pursue agriculture with an entrepreneurial mind-set to enhance family income and livelihoods. Farmers and farmwomen conveyed their gratitude for the technical and material support provided under the project and assured their continued cooperation. More than fifty participants took part in the event, which was concluded with the expression of sincere thanks by Dr. Mishra. The programme was successfully arranged and coordinated by Ms. Isha Anindita Sahoo, SRF and Mr. Firoj Kumar Pradhan, Field Assistant.
