Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Barpeta
Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) for Barpeta District was established by Assam Agricultural University, with financial assistance from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research at Howly. The centre started functioning from September 14, 2004. The geographical location of Howly lies around 26o 25' 32.7'' N latitude and 90o 58' 13.6'' E longitude, at an elevation of 53 m above msl. Howly town is 430 km away from AAU headquarter, Jorhat, and 130 km away from the state capital Guwahati. It is easily accessible by road and is located beside National Highway No. 31, in between Bhabanipur and Barpeta Road towns to the east and west respectively. The town can also be approached by road from the district headquarter Barpeta, 12 km away, which in turn is linked to Guwahati by a metalled road. The nearest rail-head is Barpeta Road, situated only 10 km away from Howly. Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International airport at Guwahati is the nearest airport. In the absence of permanent infrastructure at its site, the KVK office is currently functioning from a rented house at Howly town. The permanent site of the KVK, covering an area of 10 ha, is located 1 km north of the National Highway. Physical occupation and boundary demarcation of the permanent site have been completed.
Barpeta District comes under the Lower Brahmaputra Valley Zone and the district headquarter Barpeta is situated at a distance of 140 km in the western direction from the state capital Guwahati. The district is surrounded by Bhutan Kingdom in the North, Nalbari and Bongaigaon District in the East and West respectively. The river Brahmaputra flows through its southern end, flanked by Kamrup and Goalpara Districts. The total geographical area of the district is 3428.03 sq. km., which is 4.21% of the total geographical area of the state. Out of the total geographical area, 68.25% is cultivable area. The district has almost flat topography, with gentle slope towards south. Northern part of the district is slightly elevated and mostly covered by forests and tall grasses, while southern part is close to the northern bank of the river Brahmaputra, characterizing low lying, flood prone zone. The district comprises of 2 civil subdivisions, 3 agricultural subdivisions, 19 ADO circles, 12 development blocks, 149 Gaon Panchayats and 1068 revenue villages. The total population of the district is 1642400, as per 2001 census. Out of this, 88.92% belong to General caste, 5.16% SC, 4.74% ST and 1.18% OBC. The male population is 51.90% and female 48.10%. Assamese is the major language of the district. The literacy rate of the district is 57.35%.
The soils of the district is characterized by alluvial, sandy and sandy-loam soils and are mostly acidic in nature. The total cultivated area of the district is 224582 ha. Out of this, 81% is rainfed and 19% is irrigated. Paddy is the dominant crop of the district. However, wheat, blackgram, lentil, jute, mustard, buck wheat, field spices etc. are also cultivated on large scale in certain pockets. As regards to horticultural crops, banana and Assam lemon are cultivated commercially. Other fruit crops are mainly concentrated in homestead gardens. The district has the reputation of producing the largest quantity of vegetables in the state. Next to agriculture, animal husbandry is an important enterprise of the district. In the recent past, fishery has emerged as an economically profitable enterprise in the district. Among sericulture commodities, Eri cut cocoon, Muga and Mulberry reeling cocoon are commercially produced in some areas. There is no agro-processing unit in the district.