Jorhat, March 6: If chief minister Tarun Gogoi was successful in bringing Thai entrepreneurs to Assam, his son and Kaliabor MP Gaurav Gogoi matched steps by leading a 14-member group from Assam to the Southeast Asian country.
The group comprising farmers, students, academics and NGO members from Jorhat, Golaghat and Tezpur returned last week (February 28) after a seven-day exposure tour of Thailand's agricultural practices and food processing industry.
Some of them are raring to practise hydroponics, boiling eggs by coating them in clay, rearing of fish in drains and processing even bitter gourd into a sweet and sour candy.
On their radar is also the lucrative agro-tourism industry integrated into the Thai tourism circuit.
Pankaj Chetry, an aquaculturist here, said he was astonished to see how large drains were dug on either side of fruit orchards and three by three feet pits dug in between the mango, pomello or jackfruit trees in which fishes weighing about 2kg to 3kg were swimming.
"A boat ride along the Mahasawad Canal in Phutthamonthon district, Nakhon Pathom province gave us a glimpse into how fishes were intercropped in orchards. After returning I have made a module to do the same among the areca nut and banana trees. I'll put in small fishes like boriolla, magur, xinghi and kawoi as big fishes will most likely get stolen here."
The group was also shown an orchid farm and water lily field and the immense potential of floriculture.
A visit to the Maha Sawad Farm Women's Group revealed how crispy rice was made from black glutinous rice, how a duck's egg coated with white clay and kept in a barrel with other eggs for 18 days resulted in a cooked egg with salty flavour and dark red almost maroon yolk which tasted delicious.
"Some of the food served suited our palate while others didn't. With similar food habits we learnt a lot about how rice could be processed into a variety of different foods. The crispy rice served with a variety of toppings tasted good and I have brou-ght some home for my family. The sun dried and packaged bananas and apples did not taste that good," he said.
The boat and quick tractor ride and a homestay on the farm all formed part of the agro-tourism. Tourists can take back a variety of processed food, a market linkage being thus established.
Samir Ranjan Bordoloi, regional manager of Farm2Food, an NGO, who had accompanied the group, said everything was processed and nothing went to waste. "Right from bitter gourd to the peel of a pomello ( rabab tenga or batapi lebu), everything is turned into something sweet and tasty. There is a lot to learn about how food is processed and this includes rice macaroni, rice crisps, rice noodles and rice cup noodles with dried vegetables to which only hot water has to be added and eaten," Bordoloi said.
Bordoloi said hydroponics (soil-less agriculture where lettuce was grown in pipes into which nutrients had been added to the water) was what had attracted him the most as this would thrive in Assam's climate.
The group was taken to the Hydroponic Farm in Bang-kok, Accent Hydroponics and Jone's Salad Hydroponic Farm.
Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Thai ambassador to India and Gaurav Gogoi had planned the exposure trip and there are also plans to bring a group from Thailand here in excha-nge. The to and fro fare was sponsored by the Assam government and the food and board by the Thai government.
"I have started this with spinach in tanks with vermiwash and compost. I'm also planning to grow other greens," he said.
"The agriculture department of Kasetsart University was another eye opener. Everything in Thailand is produced after research to find out what the demand is and whether it will sell. The agro industry and the extension part of the university look after the market linkage of the farmers," Bordoloi said.
They were also shown organic farming which was a community enterprise at Pathum Thani province, Sam Khok district and to Khlong Luang district to visit the Golden Jubilee Museum of Agriculture.
