Platinum Jubilee Year of College of Agriculture, Jorhat

 Dr. Hemchandra Saikia

(saikia.hemchandra@rediffmail.com)

It is a very proud moment that the College of Agriculture Jorhat, which was established on August 16, 1948, by the government of Assam, is going to complete its glorious Platinum Jubilee Year on August 16, 2023. The late Rev. B. M. Pugh was appointed as the first Principal of the college. The College of Agriculture Jorhat is a constituent college of Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, which has a total of 9 colleges with faculty in agriculture, horticulture, sericulture, fishery, veterinary, and community science. The College of Agriculture Jorhat, which is within the same campus of Assam Agricultural University Jorhat, is situated at Borbheta, 5 km south of Jorhat town, and is seen as a centre of attraction for higher education in agricultural science for students both within the state and outside the state, with very high demand. It is very positive and encouraging that most of the quality manpower produced by the College of Agriculture has served or is serving in various positions either within the state or outside the state, including national and international platforms, and their contribution is realised as a due fillip in their service sector.

As the state Assam is an agrarian state, and about 70% of its total population is directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture and allied sectors for their livelihood, and 27.41 lakh farm families are directly associated with agriculture. Another important characteristic of Assam agriculture is its prevalence of fragmentation and small size of landholding, where more than 80% of farm households belong to small and marginal farmers. Moreover, over the decades, Assam agriculture has been characterised by a very low level of cropping intensity, a traditional way of crop cultivation, and the prevalence of monocropped areas to a great extent. Under such a situation, to sustain a desirable level of food security for the burgeoning population and also to transform agricultural occupation into a respectable, remunerative, and vibrant livelihood option, Assam needs the adoption of suitable, improved, and proven agricultural technologies across the state. In order to initiate, facilitate, or carry forward the due process of technological intervention, adoption, or dissemination among our farming community across the state, Assam needs quality human resources in the form of agricultural experts, officials, or agricultural scientists in sufficient quantities on a continuous basis. So to catalyse or ignite the process of improved and sustainable agricultural activities in our economy and also among our farming community in their fields with economies of scale, we very well need the quality services of agri-graduate, post-graduate, or doctoral degree holders at the right time and place. That is why the establishment of the College of Agriculture, Jorhat, Assam, by the then Government of Assam in 1948 at Jorhat was a very right and philosophical decision to carry forward the process of agricultural development in a right and desirable direction where due consideration for sustainability is always an inherent and essential element.

It needs no elaborate explanation about the necessity and critical role of higher educational institutions in the entire process of human resource development in the form of education, knowledge, skill, or efficiency in any economic field, viz. arts, science, commerce, medical education, engineering education, or higher education in agriculture. The greater the number of quality educational institutions, the better the chance of producing a good number of highly qualified employable workers who will contribute more to the field of development. There was an ardent need for the services of a college of agriculture or a state agricultural university in the state of Assam. And these critical needs can be fulfilled through the services of agri-graduates, agricultural officers, agricultural scientists, or agricultural experts. Otherwise, all the activities for agricultural development are sure to be badly affected in our economy. This was prevented nip in the bud with the very intellectual decision and implementation of the government of Assam and concerned intellectual people due to the establishment of a college of agriculture in the state. Higher education intuition like a college of agriculture in a state like Assam can very well change the plight of our very potential agricultural sector of our economy with the adoption and intervention of suitable improved agricultural technologies in due space and time into a vibrant and sustainable economic sector. The services of agri-experts produced by higher institutions of agricultural education are very essential. No one can deny the very fact that whatever transformational changes Assam has witnessed in the field of agriculture are critically catalysed by the quality manpower produced by the College of Agriculture Jorhat to a great extent through their contributions in the form of technologies developed, recommended, disseminated, or implantation of agricultural development programmes, besides their involvement in an effective mass awareness programme among our farming community on a regular basis.

Contribution of College of Agriculture, Jorhat, to the State’s Economy: The most prominent contribution of the College of Agriculture, Jorhat, to the process of due agricultural development in particular and the economy of the state in general is realised in several forms, as follows:

1. Contribution towards the development and recommendation of location-specific suitable improved agricultural technologies: Most of the suitable improved agricultural technologies developed and recommended for the state of Assam are mostly contributed by the agricultural scientists produced by the college of agriculture in Jorhat. Agricultural scientists of the college of agriculture have made a mentionable contribution in the process of developing all 113 crop varieties, consisting of 55 varieties belonging to rice, 7 green gramme, 7 black gramme, 2 lentils, 8 troika, 2 sesame, 8 sugarcane, 2 jute, 2 forage, and 20 vegetables. This is really commendable, as these technologies are helping our farmers raise their production, productivity, and farm income to a desirable level, besides attracting good numbers of farmers to retain their occupation for the greater cause of development and food security.

2. Contribution towards smooth functioning of agricultural department: Agri-graduates of the college of agriculture are playing a crucial role in the very smooth functioning of our agricultural department and thus pave the way for delivering fruitful services to our esteemed farming community and thus promoting agricultural development.

3. Contribution in the field of Public Administrations, companies, and Reputed National Institutions: Till date, a good number of graduates of the college of agriculture have either served or are serving various departments of public administration in various categories, like the Assam Civil Service, the Assam Police Service, and other allied services of the Assam Public Service Commission, successfully including some reputed Central government departments and thus contributing to good governance. Again, the contributions of human resources produced by the College of Agriculture are also well realised in some reputed national institutions at various responsible positions. Similarly, for the smooth functioning of companies like Tea Garden Companies, agrochemical companies, and pesticide Companies, a good number of agri-graduates and postgraduates have served well or served well at various responsible positions, thus promoting their growth in the economy.

4. Smooth functioning of Research Institutions and Krishi Vigyan Kendras of Assam: The contribution of quality manpower produced by the college of agriculture is also very well reflected in the increasing and encouraging level of service delivery in various research institutions and Krishi Vigyan Kendras, which are incessantly working for the fruitful delivery of suitable services and products to our farming community so that their production, productivity, and income get increased and sustained.

Therefore, a higher education institution like the College of Agriculture can contribute a lot continuously to transforming our agriculture sector into a better performing and sustaining sector of our economy because it can supply qualitative, capable, potential, and productive manpower to the very right and suitable sector of our economy. So my very best wishes to the esteemed college of agriculture in Jorhat, and I hope it will ever fulfil the critical needs and aspirations of the people of Assam, particularly of our farming community, on whose shoulders our food security relies to a great extent. Long live the College of Agriculture, Jorhat, with a sustained glittering colour of performance and efficiency.