CORRESPONDENT
NALBARI, Jan 30 - Saraswati Puja was special for the staff and students of Dakshin Ulabari LP School and Ulabari-Paschim Nakheti Millon ME School as the vegetables cooked for lunch was from the kitchen garden maintained by them.
Kitchen garden have been made compulsory by the authorities in each and every school campus. As a part of this new concept, the kitchen garden set up by the teachers and students of Dakshin Ulabari LP School and Ulabari-Paschim Nakheti Millon ME School have drawn the attention of the public as the Education department authorities. Both the schools under the Pub Nalbari education block are situated on the same campus.
Madan Baishya, an assistant teacher of Ulabari Paschim Nakheti Million ME School, said they have cultivated cabbage, cauliflower, brinjal, chilli, potato, bean, pumpkin, coriander, and ladyfinger among others in an organic manner.
The students themselves are involved in planting, irrigating and taking care of the kitchen garden. The teachers donated some money from their salary to set up the kitchen garden, and have been trying to teach the students the English names of the vegetables. Both the English and Assamese names of the vegetables are being displayed in the garden. Baishya said Nikunja Barman, the block elementary education officer (BEEO) of Pub Nalbari block, extended help and guidance in setting up the kitchen garden.
The role of the headmasters of the two schools, Madhab Kalita and Mukunda Das, have also been appreciated. Yellow revolution in Nalbari: Meanwhile, the cultivation of mustard (NRCBH-101 variety) has brought a ray of hope for the flood-affected farmers of Nalbari who are hoping for a good harvest.
NRCBH-101 is a good quality mustard developed by the National Research Centre on Rapeseed & Mustard, Bharatpur. The Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Nalbari carried out demonstrations in 10 villages of the district. A total of 40 farmers, who work on 25 hectares of land, were included in the demonstration carried out under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikash Yojana (RKVY).
Nalbari KVK chief scientist Dr Mridul Deka said bee hives and boxes for bee-keeping were provided to the farmers to increase cross-pollination. Bee farming along the mustard fields increases mustard production by 20 per cent, he said. The average production of NRCBH-101 variety is 1,438 kg per hectare, and this variety has a speciality of yielding good production even if it is sown late (mid-November).
The crop duration is 105-120 days and its height is 170-200 cm, and the oil content of the seeds is 34-42 per cent higher. Deka along with Nalbari Deputy Commissioner Bharat Bhusan Dev Choudhury and horticulture specialist Homeswar Mazumdar visited the demonstration plots in Lakhopur area. Deputy Commissioner Dev Choudhury interacted with the farmers, and called upon the youths to cultivate mustard in large scale for self-employment instead of running after government jobs.
Source: The Assam Tribune, Guwahati, Friday, January 31, 2020