Arunachal can revive its traditional and healthy organic farming practices and check the rampant destruction of agri–fields and environment as well as avoid many urban food–borne diseases among the people, said Dileep Kumar, Programme Officer, Pesticide Action Network, India at Namsai. He was addressing a training programme by Thanal, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, a reputed national NGO championing organic farming and the Save Rice Campaign in six States across India. The Thanal team including Programme Officers Dileep Kumar and Deepak R was in Lohit from April 22 to 27 and conducted training for making bio–fertilizers and bio–pesticides for farmers, officials, NGOs, teachers and students. Thanal had in October 2013, held a successful awareness campaign on ‘Save our Indigenous Rice varieties’ in Namsai, Sunpura and Roing. The three–day workshop at Namsai was organized by Khun–Ta–Nau Welfare Society jointly with the Arunachal University of Studies, Namsai. The workshop turned out to be a great inspiration for the local farmers, according to Dr Namita Lungchang of ATMA, Namsai. The trainees found the session highly useful saying that it could help them produce healthy organic crops, at lesser expenses. Rupe Payum speaking on behalf of his farmer friends declared they would adopt these eco–friendly methods in their farms. Arunachal University Director Asish Agarwal assured to co–operate in spreading organic farming practices among the people. On the third day, the Thanal team went around the villages of Namsai and Lathao circles and held interaction with many farmers. The workshop at Wakro was sponsored by the Wakro Organic Tea Growers Network and co–ordinated by Dr S Nayil, Patron, APNE Library, Wakro. The workshop gave emphasis on preparing local Bio–pesticides for use in the organic tea gardens of Wakro, instead of highly expensive ready–made bio–preparations from outside. The sessions also aimed at developing some bio–fertilizers and pesticides for the orange gardens of Wakro, affected by low production due to severe infections of the trees. Teachers and students from Wakro schools also attended the workshop. “We’re straightaway adopting these preparations”, said Songyalum Mam, an enthusiastic organic tea–grower of Wakro, as he himself took lead in preparing them. Abhijit, Supervisor of Wakro Organic Tea also expressed his happiness in the utility of the workshop. “The training sessions on bio–ferilizers covered aspects like the need to change our stress on the myth propagated by large chemical industries that chemicals are an inevitable requirement in modern agriculture like synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, growth regulators, preservatives, etc”, an official release said here today.