Rice Crop Cafeteria evaluation-cum-field day held in Golaghat

GOLAGHAT: A day-long programme on Participatory Varietal Field Day of Rice Variety Cafeteria was organized by CSS-Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) - Golaghat, under the aegis of Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation (APART) Project at Kamalaboria Kakati Gaon under Kothalguri Development Block recently, stated a press release.

The rice crop cafeteria was set up in the field of farmer Probir Baruah and was grown in a plot measuring 2 bighas. Ten selected Stress-tolerant Rice Varieties (STRVs), Premium Quality Rice (PQR), High Yielding Variety (HYV) and local varieties were grown for the live demonstrations of farmers where they can learn skills in different farm operations through evidence-based learnings, from land preparation to harvesting. Ten varieties of rice grown in the plot of Probir Baruah were Ranjit Sub-1, Bahadur Sub-1, Swarna Sub-1, BINA-11, BINA-17, Black Rice, CR Sugandh Dhan 310, Lal Ganga, DRR Dhan - 44 and Masuri.

The programme started with a welcome address and introductory session by Block Technology Manager (BTM) of Kothalguri Development Block, Dr Foridur Rahman Bora.

Inaugurating the programme, the Deputy Project Director (Deputy PD) of ATMA – Golaghat, Tapan Kr. Mahanta said," Rice Varietal Cafeteria facilitates scientific evaluation and selection process of new varieties." He added that through this concept, farmers and stakeholders are able to compare and select best varieties that have been identified as suitable for growing in their plots of land. The Deputy PD of CSS-ATMA, Golaghat also addressed the beneficiary and local farmers about the advantages of Line Transplanting and importance of farm mechanization in the paddy fields in order to shift from traditional farming to commercial farming practice.

BTM of Kothalguri Development Block, Dr Foridur Rahman Bora extensively elaborated the importance of selecting rice varieties by the farmers themselves for their local environment which would ease researchers and breeders to develop varieties according to the choices of farmers of the region and thus explained the importance of conducting participatory varietal evaluation by establishing a Rice Varietal Cafeteria. He said that the entire exercise from seed sowing to harvesting are closely monitored by the officers and officials of IRRI and ATMA teams timely.

Programme Officer under Assam Agriculture Mission, Dr Amarjit Saikia briefed about different schemes of the Agriculture department. He also discussed in detail about the stress-tolerant rice varieties with the farmers.

Research Technician of IRRI, APART Project- Golaghat, Abhishek Singha addressed the beneficiary and local farmers about the paddy procurement topic. He briefed about quality parameters of paddy, process of registering, and informed them about the procurement agencies in the district etc. The day-long programme was attended by 30 farmers from the village.

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