Pt GB Pant popular lecture organized

ITANAGAR, Sep 10: Senior faculty members from the NERIST, the regional centres of the ZSI and the BSI, the SRSAC, DNG College, the NEIST, etc, attended the 7th ‘Pt GB Pant popular lecture’ organized by the NE regional centre of the GB Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment (GBPNIHE) here on Thursday on the occasion of the institute’s annual day.

While the head of the GBPNIHE’s regional centre, MS Lodhi spoke about the activities of the institute in the Indian Himalayan region, Jorhat-based Assam Agriculture University’s VC Prof Ashok Bhattacharya delivered the popular lecture on ‘Agriculture in Northeast: Transition and strategies for future development under changing climate’.

Dr Bhattacharya highlighted climate change and its impact on the NE region, with special reference to agriculture and future adaptability. He elaborated the problems in the mono-cropping system faced by small farmers, “which does not provide profitable income and has low productivity, which leads to high vulnerability to climate change.”

The speaker recommended that “strategic planning at the local level can substantially help in making hill agriculture sustainable.

“Alley cropping, hedgerow, intercropping, horti-silvi-pastrol, etc, are effective methods for soil management for small farmers,” he said.

Arunachal Pradesh State Council for Science & Technology Director CD Mungyak highlighted the different ongoing research and development-focused activities “which are playing an important role in extending desired knowledge and support to the local farmers and other interested groups.”

The lecture was organized on the virtual platform, in view of the Covid-19 situation.