[ Prafulla Kaman ]
OYAN, Nov 5: A group of final-year BSc agriculture students from Pasighat-based College of Horticulture & Forestry are undergoing a 15-day firsthand training on ‘Agro-industrial attachment’ at the Donyi Polo Tea Estate (DPTE) here in East Siang district since 28 October.
The programme is being conducted under the rural agriculture work experience project and the agro-industrial attachment project to help the students understand the rural setting in relation to agriculture and allied activities, and to familiarize them with the problems and the socioeconomic condition of the farmers.
The programme also seeks to expose the students to the industrial environment and familiarize them with various materials, machines, processes, products and their application, along with relevant aspects of management, in addition to understanding the scope, functions and job responsibilities in agro-based industries.
Tea master from the Siang Tea Industries Pvt Ltd, Monuj Kumar, who is also the manager of the DPTE, is imparting the training to the students and facilitating exposure visits for them to different units of the tea industries and cultivation sites.
With help from assistant manager Kaling Moyong, Kumar is imparting orientation training on the processing and packaging of black tea, green tea and orthodox tea, at the DPTE’s centre for excellence here.
The two trainers are also imparting field training on preparation of tea nurseries, young and matured tea management, shed-tree management, pruning, plucking of tea leaves, and pest and disease management in tea plants through organic practices.
There are 18 agriculture students, including 12 girls, in the study group. The orientation training will conclude on 11 November.
