About the Institute
Dirpai Chapori, Gogamukh, Dhemaji – 787035
Introduction
The North-Eastern region of India is endowed with a wide range of agricultural resources and holds immense potential for generating rural income and ensuring food and nutritional security for its predominantly tribal population. However, issues like climate change, eroding biodiversity, and over-exploitation of natural resources pose serious challenges to sustainable agriculture and allied sectors. More significantly, the transformative impact of the Green Revolution was not realised in North-Eastern India.
It was to address this historical gap that the ICAR-IARI was established at Gogamukh in Dhemaji district of Assam — to cater to the specific needs of undertaking research, developing efficient technologies, and fostering extension for ushering in the Second Green Revolution through holistic development of agriculture in North-East India.
Background
The Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi has played a pivotal role in advancing Indian agriculture, ushering the country into the era of the Green Revolution. However, the impact was not realised in the North-Eastern states including Assam.
To tap the enormous untapped potential of this region, the Government of India considered replicating the success of IARI in the North-East. The proposed IARI at Assam is therefore designed to possess all the hallmark identities of IARI New Delhi across all sectors of agriculture, while conducting high-end research to resolve the specific challenges of the NER and imparting high-quality postgraduate education.
Important Milestones
Foundation Stone Laying ceremony photograph (26 May 2017) with the Hon’ble Prime Minister
Objectives of the Institute
IARI-Assam is unique in its structure, functioning, mandate and objectives. It is one of its kind in the country, established in the North-Eastern region with aims and objectives specific to the North-Eastern states.
- Promote excellence, foster high-standard research for holistic agrarian development and orient the educational programme towards future needs and opportunities in South-East Asia
- Strengthen formal and non-formal training to promote entrepreneurial skills for commercialisation of agriculture in the region through diploma courses in the line of polytechniques
- Conservation and utilisation of biotic resources of North-East India for higher farm productivity and industrial uses
- Acid soil management vis-à-vis development of crop varieties and technologies suitable for acidic soil of North-East India
- Productive utilisation of water resources through multi-disciplinary research on excess water management through drainage, water harvesting, and micro-irrigation, for enhancing Water Use Efficiency (WUE) and higher factor productivity in agriculture of North-East India
- Develop appropriate cropping systems to attain multiple cropping for increasing productivity with long-term sustainability in the North-Eastern states
- Develop integrated farming system models through appropriate recycling of bio-resources to promote organic agriculture, keeping in view the specific requirements of the region
- Develop horticulture and animal husbandry-based diversified farming system modules to promote rural entrepreneurship
- Effective post-harvest management and value addition using appropriate food engineering protocols to enhance farm income and promote agribusiness
- Market and policy research to augment income of different stakeholders in agriculture
- Generate innovative extension models, dovetail them to developmental models, and disseminate them through KVKs, state agricultural universities and state agricultural extension and other development departments of North-East India
- Promote client-oriented on-farm and farm innovation research and technology assessment, refinement and transfer through participatory approaches on convergence mode
- Foster development in communication research and linkages with rural development programmes, and strengthen micro-planning through inter-departmental and participatory approaches
Location
The institute is situated at Dirpai Chapori, Gogamukh, Dhemaji district, Assam – on the north bank of the Brahmaputra, approximately 7 km off National Highway 15 (Guwahati–Pasighat Highway), 30 km from district headquarters Dhemaji, and approximately 430 km from Dispur, the state capital.
Full address
Dirpai Chapori, Gogamukh, Dhemaji, Assam – 787035
Campus area
587 acres (44 acres developed as academic-cum-residential campus)
Nearest airport
Lilabari Airport, North Lakhimpur
Nearest railway station
Gogamukh Railway Station
Distance from NH-15
7 km from National Highway 15 (Guwahati–Pasighat Highway)
Distance from Dhemaji
30 km from district headquarters Dhemaji