Assamese version of Rice Knowledge Bank launched under APART

GUWAHATI: Assam Agricultural University (AAU), with the technical support of International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), and the Department of Agriculture, Government of Assam, under Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project (APART) launched the Assamese and English version of the Rice Knowledge Bank on Wednesday. During the event, a booklet on climate-resilient technologies and rice value chain "Rice Production Manual", 15 factsheets and 14 brochures on rice production techniques were also released. The RKB website and the publications were launched and released by Rajesh Prasad, IAS, APC Govt. of Assam.

Launching the website, he congratulated the AAU and IRRI team for bringing out the website for benefit of the State farmers. Addressing the event he appealed to all the scientists and officials to work for the farmer community beyond production, particularly in the post-harvest and marketing side. The event was started with the welcome note by Dr Rupam Borgohain, Nodal Officer, AAU-APART. In his address, he described the works that have been done by AAU under APART and highlighted the large scale multiplication of Stress Tolerant Rice Varieties in the State through APART. Dr Kanwar Singh, Resident Consultant, IRRI presented the overall progress of work performed by AAU with the technical support of IRRI under APART and also highlighted details of the RKB website and its preparation process.

It is to be mentioned that Rice Knowledge Bank, Assam (RKB, Assam)—a digital extension service that provides practical knowledge solutions, specialized for small-scale farmers for Assam. RKB showcases rice production techniques, agricultural technologies, and best farming practices based on IRRI's and AAU'spool of knowledge from research findings, learning and media resources, and in-country projects. It serves to address the biggest challenge to agricultural development by supporting the fast and effective transfer of technologies and knowledge from lab to field. One hundred fifty factsheets on Best Management Practices (BMPs), Mechanical Transplanting of Rice (MTR), Dry seeding of Rice (DSR), Integrated Water management (IWM) varieties, and post-harvest management are localized and translated into Assamese, and four manuals have been uploaded to the website.

At present the www.rkbassam.in portal is available in English and Assamese for the farmers, and the Bengali and Bodo version is in the process and will be available soon. This rice production manual is designed to actively involve the extension functionaries of the Department of Agriculture in the learning process. Different lesions include simulation skills, practice, discussions, and field exposures to supplement classroom sessions using objective knowledge, attitudes, and skill checklists. This training manual has 26 lessons in 7 modules, stated a press release.

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