e-Arik for the farmers

e-Arik web portal connects rural farmers, The Arunachal Times, 16 October 2008.
PASIGHAT, Sept 15: Access to appropriate agricultural information is a difficult task for the rural tribal farmers of Arunachal Pradesh State. The region's geographical remoteness, inadequate transport and communication facilities in rural areas, difficult terrain and inadequate technical work force in the rural developmental departments make the information and advanced farm technological access of rural farmers become distant reality.
Considering dismal information dissemination scenario, the e-Arik (e-Agriculture), the DSIR sponsored research project of College of Horticulture and Forestry, Central Agricultural University, Pasighat hosted a web portal (http://www.earik.in/) for the rural farmers of Arunachal Pradesh. The portal provides information on agriculture, rural development, education, health, governance and other related areas. Further, weather forecasting link, market information, farm training and demonstration announcements.
Agriculture section provides information on khasi mandarin cultivation and management aspects, Bordeaux mixture preparation and their uses in khasi mandarin orchard, powerpoint slide show on integrated diseases management, post harvest technology of khasi mandarin, production and post harvest management of ginger. The e-Arik portal also provides information on developmental departments such as; agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry and veterinary, fisheries, farmers training centre, state soil testing laboratory, district rural development agency. Education section provides information on central government scholarships for ST students such as; scheme of post-metric scholarships, central sector scholarship scheme for top class education for ST students, research fellowships and national overseas scholarships. Health section provides preliminary information on Aids awareness and malaria awareness. Governance section provides application forms for issue of income certificate, ST certificate, trade licence and building assistance. Extras section provides information on Telephone directory of East Siang district.