OUR CORRESPONDENT
MANGALDAI: Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project (APART) organized a 'Grand Harvest Programme of Sali paddy using Combine Harvester' in collaboration with Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) Darrang and International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) on Tuesday at KVK, Darrang campus.
Senior Scientist and Head of KVK, Darrang, Dr Abdul Hafiz briefed about the programme organized for the sake of the farming community using the Mini Combine Harvester during harvesting of the paddy.
District Development Commissioner Subhalakhsmi Deka joined the programme as the chief guest and expressed her gratitude for organizing such a programme which would create awareness among the farming community of different machinery uses. Jyoti Bikash Nath and Neeraj Kr. Tyagi, Specialist from IRRI, taking part in the function, explained the benefits of these machines and how seed quality is maintained during harvesting in the field itself. They also explained that a mechanized method of harvesting not only reduces the labour cost but also saves time.
KK Pandit, SDAO (Horticulture) Darrang, also spoke on the labour scarcity and how such machinery helps our farmers to overcome their problem during harvesting. Hengul Jyoti Saloi, Farm Manager KVK, Darrang, Amlandeep Saikia, Junior Researcher, IRRI demonstrated and explained the working principle of Mini Combine Harvester at APART demonstration field of Mohan Ch. Koch of Gelaidingi village.
The machine has the capacity of harvesting 2 - 2.5 bigha of paddy land within one hour, which is of course a far better method in comparison to manual harvesting. It not only saves time but also lowers the cost of production and hence increases the benefits for the farmers. Since the Mini Combine Harvester is of track type, it becomes easier to harvest paddy in wet conditions during Boro season as there is so much water available in the paddy field. The programme was participated by hundreds of farmers from different blocks of Darrang district.
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