A CORRESPONDENT
JORHAT: Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday laid the foundation stone of an ambitious Rs 3 crore 'Agri Ecotourism through Green Initiative Project' at the Assam Agricultural University campus in Jorhat.
The first of its kind project in the region will be funded by Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi under its Development Grant 2020-21. The project will be developed on a 1.5 km channel flowing through the campus of the varsity and its banks. The integrated project will include boat-rides on the channel with a boathouse and a quaint bridge.
The banks on both sides will be lined with paver blocks and boulders and will be dotted with a mini tea plantation, indigenous fruit trees, indigenous aromatic plants, indigenous spice trees, landscaped gardens, integrated with fishery and poultry farming. There would also be a pond for angling and tree lined avenues.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister stressed not only making the State self-sufficient, but also emphasized on finding innovative ways of marketing agri products. "Innovation is the need of the hour as society is moving at a very fast pace and looking for new things, new products and packaging. We must forget what we did in the past and move ahead with innovation and research," he said. He cited the example of how tea was being blended with aromatic flowers to create a new market. He praised the role played by Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) of AAU in helping the farmers.
Sarma also asked the scientists to find ways to lower moisture content in the rice varieties of Assam so that FCI could procure rice from the State. Later, he told media persons that the Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chandan Deka had proposed a Rs 200-crore infrastructure development plan, the funding of which he would look into. He was accompanied by ministers Dr Ranoj Pegu, Atul Bora, Jogen Mohan Jorhat Lok Sabha MP Topon Kumar Gogoi and Rajya Sabha MP Kamakhya Prasad Tasa.
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