Agronomy students taken on study trip

ITANAGAR, 19 May: Sixty 2nd semester BSc and MSc agronomy students of Himalayan University (HU) here were taken on a study trip to the CSIR-NEIST (North East Institute of Science & Technology) in Naharlagun on Friday.

The trip was organised in order to familiarise the students with “different aspects of soil analysis and mushroom production technology,” the university informed in a release.

During interaction, CSIR-NEIST Head Dr Chandan Tamuly apprised the students of mushroom production and cultivation technology, and aspects like “preparation of mushroom spawn of winter and summer species of oyster mushroom and how we can inoculate the spawn into rice straw for large-scale production of mushrooms,” the release stated.

HU agriculture head Dr Raja Husain, along with faculty members Dr Sonbeer Chack, Dr Kasinam Doruk and Bengia Kawak, who led the trip, advised the students to “learn the updated techniques of mushroom production and implementation of the techniques in future for farmers’ welfare and livelihood,” the release said.

CSIR-NEIST scientist Dr Maushami Hazaraka presented a practical demonstration on “estimation of soil nitrogen, potassium and protein, using modern techniques like kjeldahl method, etc, and senior technical officer Dr Sandeep Kalita and other technical officers imparted training to the students,” the HU said.