Meghalaya will partner with Israel to establish a Centre of Excellence (CoE) on high value vegetables in the State aimed to improve and promote the livelihood of farmers.
“This Centre of Excellence is vital to tap the diverse bio-diversity and resources available in the State in terms of its soil and agro-climatic conditions. It will also act as an impetus for further research and expansion into multi-fold aspects including tourism potential considering the State has a gene pool of important vegetables, fruits and plants such as the Citrus fruits in Nokrek, East Garo Hills District,” said chief minister Conrad K Sangma in Tura on Wednesday.
Sangma took part in a video conference with representatives from the partner country and senior officials from the state agriculture department and emphasis was laid on the focus for research on quality seedlings and planting materials.
Apart from adopting the best practices to upscale production and quality the Chief Minister stressed on the need to develop and facilitate market linkages and explore the potential for crossing over to global markets, particularly Bangladesh.
He also pointed out the need to carry out Impact Assessment in terms of the number of farmers trained and benefited.
According to top state officials, Meghalaya will benefit from the wide expertise offered by the Israel collaboration in terms of fertigation, protected cultivation, quality planting materials, among others.
It is also expected that the collaboration will bring in technology support, technology know-how and quality planting materials from the partner country.
The centre is expected to improve cultivation by bringing in techniques and technology support as well as creation of water harvesting and conservation initiatives. It will also explore the possibility of setting up a State of the Art Packing House which will address the marketing issue.
“The way forward is to expand beyond the CoE to Villages of Excellence (VoE),” suggested the chief minister.
The Agriculture Department has decided to initiate the collaboration in two phases. Initially it will focus on seasonal and high value vegetables and water management through Small multipurpose reservoirs/ponds for irrigation, fishery, etc. The second phase will concentrate on the expansion of the research and development of citrus fruits.
