Training programme on ‘Rice Doctor’ app conducted in Lakhimpur

A CORRESPONDENT

LAKHIMPUR: A one-day training programme on ‘Rice Doctor was conducted by Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Lakhimpur under the aegis of Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project (APART) on Thursday . A total of 30 participants comprising of farmers from NGOs from different blocks of the district and students of Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat undergoing Rural Agricultural Work Experience programme in the district attended the programme.

The programme started with a welcome address delivered by APART Project Associate Mouchumi Dutta. Senior Scientist & Head of KVK, Lakhimpur, Dr. Prasanta Kumar Pathak in his speech motivated the participants to adopt modern agricultural technologies and to step towards scientific agricultural practices. He laid stress upon the use of rice doctor application through which farmers can easily diagnose the problems they face in their crop field.

Subject Matter Specialist of KVK Lakhimpur, Jyotshna Das also took part in the programme wherein Specialist of International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Vivek Kumar placed his expert view on scientific management practices of paddy fields and threw light upon different agricultural applications available on digital platforms.

Researcher, Ankita Sahu and Junior Researcher Rishikesh Phukan from IRRI introduced the farmers to the mobile application “Rice Doctor” as well as”Rice Knowledge Bank Assam (RKBAssam)” and highlighted the various components available on the portal. Sahu trained the participants for effective handling of the Rice Doctor app where farmer can diagnose their crop related problems at field level itself. Through rice knowledge bank portal, farmers can surf information such as details of different Stress Tolerant Rice Varieties, scientific seed production, pest and weed management, nursery preparation and management, post harvest operations including mechanization, etc. which will serve as a valuable source to the farming community of the State. Assistant project Scientist, APART, Priyamjit Roy assisted the participants to handle the application. Durlov Bora, Research Technician APART and Sanjay Kumar Yadav, Research Technician from IRRI were also present.