TEZPUR, June 16 � The Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Sonitpur, Napam, under the Assam Agricultural University has adopted a host of measures to boost agricultural production in the No. 2 Sootea Adarsha Gaon Panchayat area of Sonitpur district. The villages in the area have been adopted by the MP of the Tezpur constituency under the Saansad Adarsha Gram Yojana of the Central Government to bring about development in the areas hitherto untouched by development agencies.
In this connection, an awareness and training programme was held at No. 2 Adarsha Gaon Panchayat Bhawan under the chairmanship of Loknath Upadhyay, president of the gaon panchayat, recently. Dr PC Deka, programme coordinator of the KVK, initiated the discussion and explained the KVK system of agricultural extension. He also announced that the KVK would undertake a mega seed production programme in the villages on winter paddy under the AAU�s flagship programme, �Technology Showcasing Programme.�
More than 100 farmers present in the meeting said that as the area is prone to floods, paddy varieties having tolerance to floods would be more suitable. Dr Deka assured to supply foundation seeds of paddy varieties like Jalashree and Jalkunwari which can withstand inundation for longer periods. He also assured supply of paddy variety, Gitesh, which has the ability to yield as much, even if transplanted with older seedlings, in the event of floods at the time of paddy transplantation.
The proposed programme will also include plantation of the popular paddy variety, Ranjit, in the flood-free areas. AK Sarmah imparted training to the farmers on the improved method of paddy cultivation, emphasising on the varieties developed by the AAU for different environmental conditions.
The programme was attended by Ghanashyam Datta, Agriculture Development Officer, Sootea, Diganta Thapa, Senior Agriculture Development Officer, ETC, Naltoli, Dol Mohon Chetri, retired school principal, Md Monjil Hussain, PMRDP, office-bearers of the gaon panchayat and village-level extension workers of the area. Minakshi Kalita offered the vote of thanks.
