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 25.7 latitude and 94.3 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 23C to 27C while minimum winter temperatures range from as cold as 0C to
a mild 12C.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 30th 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.