Assam is expected to have a rice harvest of 75 lakh MT this year, 23 lakh MT more than previous year's production, state Agriculture Minister Atul Bora has said.
"Rice production of Assam was 52 lakh MT last year and this year our expectation is to have a harvest of around 75 lakh MT," Bora said at the 52nd Annual Rice Group Meeting.
"Our production curve is on upward trend despite the attack of caterpillar at initial stage," he said here.
Production was not affected by the caterpillar attack due to prompt measures taken by the state government as well as favourable environment, Bora said at the meeting yesterday.
He said that the government wanted to employ organic farming system for which a foolproof organic rice production package was required.
"We are also into a programme of doubling the income of paddy farmers in our state," Bora said adding that research bodies needed to contribute in a big way for this.
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) deputy director general (crop Science) Dr J S Sandhu called upon rice scientists to find out a technology so that farmers could get maximum productivity using minimum water.
The Annual Rice Group Meeting, held in Assam for the first time, was organised by ICAR-Institute of Rice Research, Hyderabad, and Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat.
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