DIRANG, 24 Aug: Agriculture minister Gabriel D. Wangsu on Saturday visited the ICAR-NRCY farm at Nyukmadung, and encouraged the institute to work in coordination with the agriculture and allied departments, the administration and local leaders for inclusive growth and socio-economic uplifment of the yak farmers.
The minister emphasized on the crucial role played by the scientists to facilitate the transition from the present traditional system to scientific yak rearing aimed at creating a market demand for yak products with special focus on youth and entrepreneurship development.
During the visit, Wangsu felicitated the tribal yak farmers of Nyukmadung through distribution of need-based inputs under the NEH and Scheduled Tribal Component of the institute.
Earlier, ICAR-NRCY director Mihir Sarkar and his team of scientists apprised the minister of the various accomplishments of research and extension activities of the institute.
This was followed by a visit to the facilities at the institute’s yak farm, which includes the Nyumadung Dairy where yak milk products are being regularly prepared and sold, the Semen Bank where the semen from elite yak bulls is processed and cryopreserved as semen straws which are further distributed among the yak rearing states of the country in collaboration with the respective animal husbandry departments for propagation of superior yak germplasm through artificial insemination (AI).
The minister was also briefed on the various promising technologies developed by the institute for yak farmers which includes Complete Feed Block technology, Silage making using polybags-a measure for mitigation of feed scarcity during winter season, the semi-intensive model of yak rearing for promoting sedentarization of yak husbandry, securing first ever GI of Yak Churpi which will accelerate its export potential by increasing its market potential in domestic as well as in international market, research work on yak genomics such as first ever whole genome sequencing of yak to be used as reference genome, development of transcriptome catalogue and mitochondrial sequencing panel of yaks to identify breeds etc, as a means of genetic improvement of yaks.
The activities of the Arunachal Pradesh Yak Herders & Products Development Cooperative Society Ltd. of which ICAR-NRCY is the chief promoter and technical partner, was also highlighted to the dignitaries.
During the visit, the minister was accompanied by the director of horticulture, Dirang ADC and other officers of the state government.
