Guwahati: Dr. M.L. Jat, Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) and Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), on January 19 reviewed strategies for intensification of rice fallow areas in Assam during his visit to ICAR–Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute (ATARI), Zone VI, Guwahati.
Dr. G. Kadirvel, Director, ICAR-ATARI, presented a detailed overview of the institute’s achievements and ongoing initiatives, highlighting efforts to bring vast rice fallow areas of Assam under productive cultivation. He outlined the promotion of crops such as toria, maize, potato and lentil, and emphasized the role of Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) in technology dissemination and capacity building among farmers.
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Dr. Jat chaired a stakeholder consultation workshop on the promotion of rapeseed–mustard in rice fallows and millet technologies, interacting with scientists, heads of ICAR institutes, KVK officials, representatives of the State Agriculture Department, Assam Agricultural University, FPOs and progressive farmers. He identified inadequate seed availability as a major bottleneck and called for farmer-participatory seed systems, seed villages and effective use of seed processing infrastructure.
Highlighting the immense untapped potential of rice fallow areas, particularly for toria and mustard, Dr. Jat advocated a cluster-based approach to address issues related to seed supply, moisture management, mechanization and post-harvest operations, including community-level dryers. He also stressed large-scale adoption of suitable mechanization tools and enhancement of public-sector hybrid seed availability, especially for maize.
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Emphasising convergence, the ICAR chief called for close alignment between ICAR initiatives and State and District Mustard Missions, underlining that sustainable agricultural progress depends on coordinated, outcome-oriented efforts. The meeting was attended by senior ICAR officials, scientists, university representatives and farmers’ organizations.
