GUWAHATI, Aug 27 - Under the World Bank-financed Rs 1,700-crore Assam Agribusiness & Rural Transformation Project (APART), the agriculture department has begun demonstration of climate resilient crops.
Agriculture Minister Atul Bora said 1,830 such demonstrations of market-led climate resilient production of field crops have been planned during this financial year.
�Altogether 22,414 climate resilient paddy demonstrations covering 30,234 farmers have been taken up. On a pilot basis, the project facilitated sale of around 660 quintal of boro paddy from demo farmers at the rate of Rs 1,750 per quintal against the prevailing market price of around Rs 1,350,� the minister said.
Around 1,400 demonstrations of vegetable crops, including banana, have been planned during the year, after covering 1,250 vegetable farmers so far.
Similar demonstrations have been taken up for pea, lentil, maize, mustard and black gram. Also under the project, 130 pre- and post-harvest machines, including rice planters, seed-cum-fertilizer drill, solar bubble dryer, portable rice mill, etc., and 8,000 super bags have been introduced to create a service economy in rice value chain.
Besides launching a rice knowledge bank � rkbassam.in, 200 piglets of exotic germplasm have been procured from Punjab with zero mortality and work on multiplication has already started.
Meanwhile, the minister said a horticulture college would be set up in Dima Hasao district. For the project, a 400-bigha plot of land has been arranged by the district council near Maibang. Also, an orchid park is being planned at Kaziranga for which a 15-bigha plot near Kohora has been identified and administrative approval of Rs 16 crore received from the government.
Asked about the flood damage, the minister said around 2.35 lakh hectares of agricultural land was affected by the floods and crop damage was in 2.14 lakh hectares of land.
Despite the losses, the department is eyeing an enhanced rabi crop and has set a paddy production target of 67 lakh metric tonnes this year. Last year, the production was around 57.27 lakh metric tonnes.
The minister was speaking at the launch of �JFarm Services App� � a mobile app-based aggregator platform that facilitates hiring of tractors and modern farm machinery for farmers.
Available on Google Play Store, the JFarm Services App is free and will connect custom hiring centres (CHC) operated by tractors and equipment owners directly to farmers who need farm mechanisation services and solutions, thereby facilitating a fair and transparent rental process while focusing on quality, dependability and timely delivery. It is a CSR project of JFarm Services.