Guwahati, April 1: High-yielding native crop varieties and disease-free mother plants are essential for quality saplings, better production, and societal well-being, stated Dr. Vibha Dhawan, Director General of the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), during a stakeholder consultation program at Udalguri, Assam.

Dr. Dhawan stressed the importance of soil health improvement and the promotion of drought-resilient crops at the consultation, which was organized by Aaranyak, a premier biodiversity conservation organization. The event was part of a GEF-UNDP Small Grants Programme (Operational Phase 7) project aimed at fostering human-elephant coexistence (HEC) and biodiversity conservation in the region.

The consultation was held at Jaikhlong Community Nursery in Dimakuchi, Udalguri, where Dr. Dhawan emphasized the need for community participation and sustainability planning to ensure the long-term success of the initiative. Dr. Dipankar Saharia, Senior Director of TERI, also highlighted agrobiodiversity’s role in climate resilience and the importance of collaborative conservation efforts.

During her visit, Dr. Dhawan inaugurated a children’s library for the nursery workers’ children, calling it a valuable resource that would nurture their curiosity beyond the classroom. She also interacted with community members and commended their efforts in developing mother-plant blocks of sweet lemon, Assam lemon, Tezpur litchi, and black pepper. She advised maintaining disease-free mother plants to ensure sustainable sapling production.

The event saw participation from village heads, self-help group (SHG) members, Joint Forest Management Committee (JFMC) representatives, the Agriculture Development Officer, and the Agriculture Extension Officer. Dr. Partha Jyoti Das, Head of Aaranyak’s WATCH Division, delivered the welcome address, while Jayanta Kumar Pathak, team lead of the UNDP-GEF SGP project at Aaranyak, reiterated the organization’s commitment to expanding its conservation and agricultural development efforts.

Aaranyak will soon launch training sessions at the nursery, with support from the dedicated SGP project team, including Dipankar Haloi, Rabiya Daimari, Haben Mochahari, Abhijit Saikia, Mondeep Basumatary, Abhilasha Baruah, Bikas Tossa, Didom Daimari, Bineswar Basumatary, and Pradeep Barman.

Speaking at the event, National Coordinator of the SGP-OP7 project, Manish Pandy, emphasized the necessity of multi-stakeholder collaboration to achieve GEF’s conservation goals. The Dimakuchi Agricultural Development Officer and Agricultural Extension Assistant from Bholatar VCDC also attended the meeting, informing farmers about government schemes and minimum support prices (MSPs) to enhance their understanding of available agricultural support.

With over 70 participants, the event encouraged active discussions between community members and dignitaries. Dr. Dhawan praised the integrated conservation and agricultural initiatives led by Aaranyak and the local community.

Notably, Aaranyak was recently honored with the SGP Best Innovation Award by UNDP & TERI for its innovative approach to conservation and human-elephant coexistence.

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