GUWAHATI, Sept 10 - With stress on concerted efforts to ensure economic exploitation of the coconut crop for improving the condition of the small and marginal farmers of the State, World Coconut Day was observed at the Phulguri Satra near Borihat in Kamrup district recently.
�Coconut tree rightly deserves to be called as the Kalpavriksha, or the tree of heavens, as it has the potential to leverage the socio-economic status of the farmers of the State,� observed Dr Sarat Saikia, Chief Scientist of Horticulture Research Station situated at Kahikuchi, while addressing farmers, officials, scientists and students during the programme.
Organised under the aegis of the All India Coordinated Research Project on Palms under Horticulture Research Station, the daylong programme was aimed at sensitizing the farmers regarding the potential and prospects of the coconut crop in Assam, with special emphasis on its scientific cultivation and management.
Training programme, method demonstration and farmer-scientist interactions were included within the ambit of the programme.
Earlier, delivering the welcome address, Dr JC Nath, Principal Scientist of the All India Coordinated Research Project on Palms, highlighted the significance of the World Coconut Day, observed on September 2 every year, besides deliberating on industrial uses, post harvest management and product diversification of coconut.
A method demonstration programme on planning method and fertilizer application in coconut was also conducted under the guidance of Dr KK Deka, Senior Scientist of Horticultural Research Station, while Dr Samiran Pathak deliberated on disease and pest management of coconut.
A farmer scientist interaction programme was also organised on the sidelines of the programme during which various queries related to scientific management of the coconut crop were answered by the scientists attending the programme.
Along with the farmers, final year undergraduate students of the Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat also participated in the programme.
