Pfutsero Seed Farm Story

Pfutsero is a quaint little sub-division under Phek district. It is bigger than a village and can be called a

town but still yet to be a city as big as the notable ones in Nagaland state.Pfutsero lies at 25.7⁰ latitude

and 94.3⁰ longitude. Pfutsero town is the highest town in Nagaland located at a height of 2133 metres

above sea level. Its soil is mostly of the alluvial nature. The maximum temperatures in summer varies

from 23⁰C to 27⁰C while minimum winter temperatures range from as cold as 0⁰C to a mild 12⁰C.In fact,

Pfutsero town is the coldest place in the state. Sometimes, the temperatures go below freezing point

even. Rainfall averages about 1527mm while in terms of humidity, the town has a sub-tropical type of

climate.

The Demonstration Seed Farm Pfutsero was established in the year 1963. The farm is looked after

presently by a farm manager (AFA) , two malis and a chowkidar. I joined as SDAO Pfutsero on the 30 th of

September 2013. From then on, I have been working with the people there. People say I have a green

thumb but I do not know for sure but I have had a good relationship with flora. So besides my official

assignments in Pfutsero, I delved my hands into working at the Seed Farm along with the hired help with

an aim to make the farm a productive one all throughout the year. Also, the fact that gardening is

something I enjoy a lot helped me in my activities at the farm.

From the 21st of January 2014, potato plantations were started at the farm. About 450 kg of seeds were

sown. There was always room for more seeds at the farm but potato seeds were lacking so I had to

make do with only the said amount. At the time of harvest, production was to the tune of 3.5 metric

tonnes which comes to about 215 quintals per hectare. For the next season, about 1.5 metric tonnes

were stored for seed purpose. The rest was sold out @ Rs.30/kg which was about 60,000 rupees. With

all expenses covered, profits were nearly 20,000 rupees which was deposited as sales proceeds. During

the Rabi season of 2014 , the local variety of pea was cultivated. In normal circumstances, 3-4 pluckings

are possible. However, the scenario was that due to lodging of the pea plants , only one single plucking

could be done. The 150 kg that was harvested was sold in commerce at the rate of Rs.80/kg. Returns of

the deal was Rs.12,000. After subtracting all expenses , profits were Rs.5000 which was deposited as

sales proceed.

Possible renovations were also commissioned during my stay at Pfutsero so far. Two agri godowns were

renovated during the year 2014 at the interval of the Kharif and Rabi season. A water reservoir was

constructed at the top of the farm which serves the purpose of providing water to the top portions of

the farm. Water is pumped up by rubber pipes and stored there from where it is again fed to areas of

the farm by pipes. For the lower regions of the seed farm, pumping machines are used for irrigation

purposed during the dry season.

Coming back to production facts again, during the Kharif season of 2015, 1.5 metric tonnes of potato

were planted covering an area of hectares starting from January. The anticipated production was 10

metric tonnes. Harvesting was started from the 2nd week of June. Unfortunately, production could only

be 7 metric tonnes which was 243 quintals per hectare as per the crop cutting done in three different

sections of the seed farm. Currently, the whole harvest is under curing at the godowns which will be

later used as per directions from the department.

That basically sums up the tale of Pfutsero Seed Farm under my wing, if you may want to put it that way.

There are, of course, a lot of avenues still to be looked upon with scrutiny because the amount of

produce harvested occasionally lives up to anticipated quantities. It has been only at most two years

after I came here but I believe things will definitely get better over the course of time. Of course, I am

not alone in this. There are ,as I mentioned earlier, a lot of helping hands to assist me in making this

realization. There is the farm manager, who is incessant in his fervor for providing any kind of assistance

he is able to provide besides looking after the seed farm during my absence from office. The same can

be said of the chowkidar who looks after my residence and is always eager to lend help in any way he

can. Two malis are also at present working in the farm. As far as infrastructural facilities go, there are

two storage godowns , a pumping machine, a power tiller, a rest house which is currently under

occupancy by staff members, 27 units of potato trays used at the godowns and an electronic weeding

machine. With great vistas of improvement that I see myself working upon, hopefully the demands for

better and or more such aids can be met by the department.

That said, it is quite obvious that the little help I get from what I just mentioned is absolutely priceless

but as I said earlier, I have big dreams for developing this seed farm and also to make use of it as a sort

of learning arena for the farmers under my jurisdiction. Certain development plots in the farm can be

cordoned off for use strictly for demos and other learning purposes. Even now, efforts are being made

to do such activities. Man power is really essential and I make no secret of the fact that the farm can do

so much better if more workers can be commissioned by the department.

In hindsight, the nearly two years of stay in office and delivering for the department as much as I could is

not merely as question of working hard. I believe that to be productive in something of a permanent

nature like holding office for an indefinite period of time and working with new people in new

environments call for motivation and also for enjoyment in what you do. Some people call it job

satisfaction but I have always enjoyed watching things grow and bear fruit, even more when you are

responsible for the fruits. There is a hope that I can get the time and all the help possible to help grow

the Pfutsero Seed Farm into one of the best in the state.