STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: AAU (Assam Agricultural University) Vice-Chancellor Dr Bidyut Chandan Deka is hopeful of Assam emerging as one of the advanced agricultural states in the country, besides exporting agri-products overseas. He said that AAU researchers could give a new pace to agriculture.
Talking to The Sentinel, Dr Deka said, "We have produced general black rice named 'Labonyo' from the pre-existing sweet black rice. Labonyo has demand in European and Gulf countries. The university will produce this variety of rice and tie it up with an agency for marketing in our brand name. This variety of rice fetches Rs 300 per kg in India through pushing sales.
"We have produced another rice variety named 'Numali'. Because of its short duration of 130-135 days, the farmers can use the land for the second cropping. 'Dholi' is a water-resistant rice variety suitable for flood-prone areas. Both these rice varieties are high-yielding ones producing 45 quintals per hectare.
"Two local fish species – chital and lasim bhangon – are on the verge of extinction in the state. The university is successful in producing its seeds. We will release the fingerlings of these two fish species to the market soon.
"Poultry (ducks and chicken) are susceptible to 'Ranikhet' (a disease). This disease has a remedy in the form of a vaccine that needs cold storage facility for preservation. That's a costly matter. However, our research team has invented another 'thermostable' vaccine that can withstand any temperature. We will release this vaccine to the market soon..
"We have set up an intelligence unit for agriculture marketing in the university campus. We have developed a portal that will bridge the farmer-market gap through the information of the field and the market. We will launch this portal in February 2022. This unit will cover 24 districts of the state.
"We have also taken a scheme to make the state self-reliant on animal fodder through the cultivation of soyabean and wheat. We have signed nine MoUs (Memorandum of Understanding) with research institutes in India and abroad.
"We have got the GI (Geographical Indication) tag of the indigenous Dimasa liquor – Judima."
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