From Our Special Correspondent
GUWAHATI: The Assam State Zoo and Guwahati Refinery (Indian Oil Corporation Ltd) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU), for putting in place a hydroponic farming system at the zoo, here on Thursday.
Guwahati Refinery executive director Sanjay Manchanda handed over a cheque for Rs 31,29,395 as part of its corporate social responsibility initiatives, to state zoo divisional forest officer, Tejas Mariswamy.
Hydroponic farming is a soil-less gardening system through which seeds are sowed on mineral-rich water solution instead of soil for plants to grow. “The hydroponic farming system will be in place at the zoo within a month and accordingly, fodder for the animals will be easily available. Moreover, various types of grass, including Napier, can be grown with the help of this system in the zoo. So the fodder produced will be more nutritious and improve health of the animals,” state forest minister Parimal Suklabaidya said.
The farming system at the state zoo, which currently houses around 450 herbivores, will be spread over 600 square feet and be operated electrically.
Zoo sources maintain that the hydroponic farming system will help produce more than 1,000 kg fodder grass per day. As of now, it is difficult to have fodder grass in large quantities on a daily basis.
Suklabaidya also informed that another giraffe and two zebras will be brought to the state zoo soon under the animal exchange programme. Recently, two giraffes were brought to the zoo here.
Meanwhile, the facility witnessed as many as 10,762 visitors on New Year’s Day, which, however, was relatively lower than the 13,000-odd visitors on January 1, 2019.
“But tourism in general has been affected owing to the ongoing agitation against the amended Citizenship Act. We expect the situation to improve soon,” the minister said.
