The corporate sector has evinced interest in the Assam farming sector for the first time by setting up the first farmer field school at Natoli in the Kaliabor subdivision of Nagaon district recently. The school, set up by United Phosphorus Limited (UPL)-Advanta, a crop protection, chemicals and seeds company, is the 26th such institution in the country.

Dispur has chalked out 10 models of rainwater harvesting under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme for drought-prone areas of the state, where groundwater level has been falling over the years. The 10 models include micro-rainwater harvesting programme for the benefit of people living below poverty line, who, in the absence of a tubewell can opt for rainwater, harvested through the GI sheets of houses built under the Indira Awas Yojana.

GUWAHATI, April 17 – The wetlands of Assam face serious threats, and without urgent interventions not just the environment but nearby human settlements too will have to suffer grave consequences. This belief has been shared by several experts who have studied the State’s wetlands over a long span of time only to become increasingly concerned.

Dispur has come up with a hi-tech solution to end the chaos surrounding the distribution of nutritional food through the Anganwadi centres. In keeping with the new system, children aged between 5 months and 6 years would be enrolled into the nearest Anganwadi centre. All relevant information about a child, including age, weight, contact address and a photograph with the mother, would be stored centrally in a server, monitored at the district level after each update. A unique ID number will be issued to each child.

Kokrajhar: The Indian Confederation of Indigenous Tribals People (ICITP), North East Zone, expressed serious concern that the Bodoland Territorial Council is no exception to the threats faced by the forests of BTC and Assam, as a result of the ongoing illegal influx from Bangladesh and other neighbors in the State.

The ongoing silent aggression of the infiltrators to the State of Assam by slowly outnumbering and marginalizing the indigenous people of Assam and the local communities in districts like Dhubri

The Hindustan Paper Corporation Ltd may be forced to shut down its Nagaon paper mill at Jagiroad in Morigaon district if it fails to extend its agreement with the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council on bamboo supply, the main raw material of the paper industry.

The 30-year-old agreement will expire in October. A source at the corporation today told The Telegraph that in November 2011, a team representing the paper unit had moved the council’s chief executive member, Jayram Engleng, to extend the agreement before it expires.

Ten districts of Arunachal Pradesh are reeling under an acute shortage of foodgrain for the past two months as the Food Corporation of India (FCI) has failed to transport grain since September. Chief Minister Nabam Tuki is planning to meet Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to press for Central intervention in the matter.

The scheme for Extending Green Revolution to Eastern India was introduced under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) in 2010-11. It was aimed at increasing agricultural production through use of new seeds and advanced agricultural technologies. Assam was included under the scheme in the later part of the 2010-11 fiscal. Rs 17.50 crore was allotted to Assam under this scheme, said sources in the Agriculture Department.

Nagaon: In what should send alarm bells ringing, the drinking water sources in 571 rural areas in Assam are fluoride contaminated. This situation has been confirmed by the State government to the Union government about two years ago. It is also reported that the Nagaon district has the highest contamination of fluoride in the water sources with 344 rural areas being badly affected. Atleast 102 areas in Karbi Anglong are high in flouride contamination followed by Kamrup district (56), Goalpara district (2), Golaghat (8), Karimganj (4) and Jorhat district (1).

HOWRAGHAT, Aug 30 – Timber smugglers have been holding sway in Karbi Anglong reserve forests. Illegal trade in timbers has been going unabated in the Karbi Anglong district. Many valuable logs are being supplied to neighbouring State of Nagaland from the district.