A farmers’ interaction training program on the campaign “Balanced Use of Fertilizers (BUF)” was organized by Team-1 MGMG group of ICAR-IIWM, Bhubaneswar, at Balanga Gram Panchayat (GP) of Puri District on 27.04.2026. 50 farmers from Kaliapada, Tota Sahi, Nua Sontha, Nuasahi and Balanga participated in the meeting, of which 42 were women farmers. The meeting commenced at 10:30 AM. At the outset, Dr. D. Sethi introduced the necessity of the BUF campaign to the farmers and outlined the overall theme of the discussion. Thereafter, Dr. B. K. Sethy highlighted several engineering aspects for efficient resource use on farms. Dr. P. K. Panda then discussed in detail various components of BUF, including vermicomposting, organic manuring, residue incorporation, and green manuring, along with the importance of balanced fertilizer application in the field. Subsequently, Dr. P. Deb Roy emphasized the importance of soil test–based nutrient management, including the application of fertilizers, soil amendments, bio-fertilizers, and micronutrients. This was followed by Dr. D. Ghosh, who discussed natural farming, integrated farming systems, mulching, and other good agronomic practices for improving nutrient use efficiency. The farmers also actively interacted with the resource persons during the session. The meeting concluded at 1:30 PM with a vote of thanks to the farmers and other eminent local participants, proposed by Dr. D. Sethi.
