MORIGAON, Dec 13 - World Soil Day and Pre-Rabi Campaign was observed by the Krishi Vigyan Kendra here at the community hall of Baghjap Gaon Panchayat.
As a part of the Pre-Rabi Campaign, an exhibition was arranged which exhibited various technologies of AAU implemented by the KVK Morigaon farm and farmers field as trial and demonstration by showcasing varieties of high-yielding boro paddy, toria, lathyrus, linseed, grass etc. Also live quail, dual purpose poultry Vanaraja, Rainbow Rooster, Kamrupa and duck breeds like White Pekin, Khaki Campbell were a part of the exhibition under reference.
Railway Minister Rajen Gohain inaugurated the exhibition. In his inaugural speech, he asked the farmers to use fertilisers as per the status mentioned in their respective soil health cards. He also spoke about entrepreneurship development of rural youths and asked them to come forward to the field of agriculture and its allied sector.
He further asked the progressive farmers and members of the public to keep pace with the day-to-day changes and to do away with the old methodology of traditional farming by applying and adopting modern technology in present-day farming for more productivity.
While addressing more than 250 farmers coming from different parts of the district, the Deputy Commissioner of Morigaon, Hemen Das stressed on optimum utilisation of land by adopting cropping sequence, use of high-yielding varieties for increasing productivity and introduction of floriculture as a means of entrepreneurship.
Morigaon being a flood-prone district, he urged the farmers to take up water-resistant varieties and asked every farmer of the district to avail crop insurance scheme for security of their produce. He emphasised on bridging the technological gap among the farmers and asked the KVK scientists to play a pivotal role in meeting this particular objective.
He further urged the farmers and the KVK scientists to popularise floriculture in the district. Programme Coordinator of Morigaon, Dr Rijusmita Sarma Deka in her welcome speech highlighted the importance on knowledge to maintain soil health for increasing productivity and urged the farmers to adopt cultivation practice on scientific lines.
Additionally, she laid stress on the use of high-yielding varieties of mustard, boro paddy and vegetables in the district. Awareness-cum-training on crop insurance scheme for Rabi was done by AR Barua, Branch Manager of National Insurance Limited. The farmers interacted with the bank officials on various issues relating to insurance.
The programme was attended by the District Fishery Development Officer, District Agriculture Officer, Chairman of Zila Parishad, Chairman of Gaon Panchayat, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Agriculture), Branch Manager of National Insurance Limited.
In the concluding session, 250 soil health cards were distributed among the farmers of the district. The programme was anchored by Julie Sharma, SMS Horticulture and other KVK officials and staff present included Ranjita Bezbaruah, Jiaul Hoque, Prasanta Goswami, Sukanya Goswami and Hirak Bhowmik, among others.
In Hailakandi: In a similar initiative, a meeting was held on the occasion of World Soil Day under the auspices of the local Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), our Correspondent adds.
Presided over by Rafique Ahmed Choudhury, the meeting was addressed by the Assistant Director of the KVK, S Deb, Dr SKA Rahman, programme coordinator B Mukhim, and subject matter specialist Abhisekh Kumar, among others.
All the speakers highlighted the purpose of Soil Day. They elaborately discussed about the different qualities of soil and its uses. They stressed the need for generating awareness among the farmers regarding the qualities of soil to derive optimum benefit during the farming process.
They also explained about rabi crop cultivation. A pre-rabi crop mela was also organised on the occasion.