Rural Agriculture Work Experience Programme (RAWEP) encourages village farmers to adopt scientific methods

MANGALDAI: Village farmers of Senapatipara, Baneikuchi, Sarabari and Gorgori near Mangaldai had no detailed information on the streams of agriculture or other scientific methods. But with the arrival of 32 agriculture students under ‘Rural Agriculture Work Experience Programme-2018’ (RAWEP) in these villages who stayed there for four months, the villagers were highly delighted to know about various streams of agriculture and its use in cultivation.

The academic streams of Agriculture like Agronomy, Soil Science, Agri- Meteorology, Plant Pathology, Horticulture, Entomology, Nematology and Community Science are now no more odd names to these village farmers. The 32 young and energetic smiling students of three Agriculture Colleges under Assam Agriculture University (AAU), of which 14 are girls, during their four-month stay with the village farmers, apprised the farmers about the benefits of these streams in transforming the traditional methods of agriculture into a scientific one.

“Now agriculture is not simply an age-old phenomenon of procuring rice, vegetables or other food items for us. There is a remarkable change in this sector with the application of new modern technologies. It has turned out to an industry,” said Dean of Science, AAU, Dr Jayanta Deka. He was participating as the distinguished guest in the inaugural function of the ‘Agricultural Exhibition -2018’ organized by the Agri BSc final year students under the four months ‘Rural Work Experience Programme’ at Moholiapara village on Friday.

Emphasizing the need of practising agriculture commercially by the youths of the State applying new modern technologies , Dr Deka highlighted various Central Government sponsored schemes for attracting educated youths to the agriculture sector, including READY (Rural Entrepreneurship Awareness Development Yojana) and ARYA (Attracting and Retaining Youth in Agriculture).

“Government has observed that new generation or the wards of the farmers used to go away from agriculture and they have taken up such schemes to attract new generation towards agriculture,” he added. He also explained how a number of highly educated youths of the State had left their lucrative jobs in banks and multinational companies to join farming and allied agriculture sector and later came up with high annual returns to the tune of Rs 2 crore.

Speaking on the occasion, Mangaldai legislator Gurujyoti Das urged the people to improve their weak financial position through integrated farming or at least planting saplings of lemon, chilly and papaya in their household taking progressive farmers of the State like Dhrubajyoti Saikia, Manash Chaliha, Nilam Dutta, Nabanita Bora and others as their role models.

The session anchored by Abinash Das, a student of the Mangaldai centre, was also attended by Principal Scientist All India Coordinated Research Project on Wheat, Dr Pabitra Kr Bordoloi, chairperson and convener of RWEP-2018, Dr Aparajita Bora and Dr Kaushik Das respectively and Joint Director of Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA) Indrajit Kaman.

Taking part in the concluding function of the day-long programme as the guest, Deputy Commissioner of Darrang, Ashok Kumar Barman appreciated the efforts of the all the 32 young students, all in traditional Assamese attire. He also made a hearty appeal to youths and village farmers of the district not to abandon the fertile agricultural land after the harvesting of the paddy in the month of ‘Aghon’ and engage themselves in cultivation of other crops so that the agricultural land always wear the evergreen look.

The exhibition neatly showcased the new study and research works in the agri sector, including all the streams of agriculture along with medicinal and aromatic plants, extension and rural economics, community science and indigenous technological knowledge of Darrang which drew the attention of the village farmers of a large area.

However, the highlight of the exhibition was the model demonstration of integrated farming by young progressive farmer of the locality, Dhruba Jyoti Saikia on the unique topic ‘Ideal farm in minimum land’, explaining how to earn nearly Rs 3 lakh per annum from only one and half bigha of land. The Dean of Science of AAU, Dr Jayanta Deka highly appreciated the model demonstration of integrated farming and assured Dhruba Jyoti Saikia to take it up as model of the AAU.

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