Boosting Agriculture will brighten future of the Seven Sisters
Shillong, January 8: Different flagship programmes are initiated for the welfare of the people living in rural areas, especially farming communities by improving the current farming systems and thereby doubling their income from agriculture and allied sectors says Agricultural Minister Radha Mohan Singh.
Radha Mohan Singh was addressing a gathering at the North-East Regional Agriculture Fair 2018 organised by the ICAR Research Complex for North Eastern Hill (NEH) Region.
He said ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Umiam, since its inception has done many basic, strategic and applied research specific to the farming problems of the NEH Region. Recognising the need for the skilled human resource in the development of agriculture, the Central Agricultural University, Imphal, has been strengthened.
Before the Modi Government, there were only seven colleges in the eastern states, which has been increased to 13 in the last three-and-a-half-year and it includes a horticulture college and an agricultural college in Badapani, Meghalaya. Earlier, there were 5 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) in Meghalaya and now the state has seven.
In the changing global competitiveness, there is a tremendous scope for improvement in agricultural in the North-East region, including Meghalaya. Continuous employment generation in farming sectors through location-specific technologies in a profitable manner in partnership with different stakeholders are the driving forces to attract and retain youth in agriculture. The cooperation and convergence among the states, public, private and other stakeholders in the state and sharing of information, technology, knowledge and resources can play a key role in mutual development by saving of precious natural resources and time.
The Minister said that through the adoption of improved technologies, the productivity and farmers’ income can be increased. The superior quality horticultural crops such as orange, pineapple, flowers, etc. can be produced in the region and the surplus can be marketed with the effective supply chain management, a key area that needs intervention. The farmers can increase their income by adopting technologies like crop rotation, integrated farming, organic farming, double/triple cropping system by the farmers instead of relying on traditional farming.
To boost the agriculture sector, the Indian government has set up an ambitious goal to double farmers’ income by 2022. For this, the government has started various schemes - from irrigation, soil health management, organic farming to crop insurance.
The government of Meghalaya should utilise the amount allocated under Prime Minister's Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana. The state government has failed to spend the funds amounting to over Rs. 50 lakh allotted for micro-irrigation under Per Drop More Crop scheme. It is lying unused for four years. In FY 2015-16, Rs 1.44 crores was given for water management and water harvesting, the government could not spend the amount in that year.