The Krishi Swarna Samriddhi Week (KSSW) of the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Ri Bhoi concluded yesterday with a farmer’s fair cum exhibition.
The event aimed at empowering farmers with the latest agricultural advancements, promoting sustainable practices, and strengthening the collaboration between scientists, policymakers and the farming community.
Principal Scientist & Head, Dr. Mokidul Islam briefed the gathering about the different activities organised at different villages like Ginger Fest at Tyrso, Millet Fest at Umwang Them, Strawberry Fest at Umktieh and Livestock & Fish Fest at Liarkhla and said about 505 farmers participated in all the events .
Umroi MLA Damanbait Lamare who attended the event as chief guest commended the contributions of KVK in transforming Indian agriculture over the past five decades. He urged the farming community to take the advantage of the presence of institutions like ICAR and KVK so that they will improve their livelihood, and assured that he will take necessary steps in alleviating the income of the farmers through various schemes like the Meghalaya CM Elevate scheme.
Director of ICAR-ATARI, Zone-VII, Umiam Dr. A.K. Mohanty highlighted the role of KVKs in knowledge dissemination and capacity building among farmers. He also briefed about the initiation of the first KVK in the country which was established in 1974 in Pondicherry. He also urged the District Agriculture and District Horticulture Officer to include some of the technologies tested by KVKs in their State Action Plan so that the farmers can reap the benefit of the various technologies developed by ICAR or any other research organization.
Mohanty also highlighted the contribution of 731 KVKs in the country to increase food grain production from 50 million tonnes in 1950 to more than 300 million tonnes in 2024.
Dr. V.K. Mishra, Director, ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Umiam emphasised the importance of research-driven farming solutions for sustainable agriculture and conservation of water and its importance in agriculture. He also urged the youth to focus on agriculture and ICAR is there to support them to become agripreneur.
Dr B P Singh, Head of Division, DTAC, lamented that today’s youth are shifting from agriculture and migrating to other cities for other jobs and employment opportunities. He highlighted the employment and job security that come with modern agriculture by becoming agripreneur or entrepreneur and providing employment to others by value addition of various agri related products. He also urged the youth to use the means of the internet and social media for gaining information which would benefit them.
Serolyne Chyne, District Agriculture Officer (DAO) cum Project Director, ATMA, Nongpoh, briefed farmers on key government schemes aimed at improving agricultural productivity and farmer welfare. She highlighted major initiatives, including PM-KISAN (financial assistance for small farmers), PMFBY (crop insurance), Kisan Credit Card (KCC) (easy credit access), and subsidized seeds, farm implements, and machinery (support for mechanized farming). She encouraged farmers to utilize these schemes and assured them of the department’s ongoing support for sustainable agricultural development.
District Horticulture Officer (DHO) Pranjal J. Dutta noted India’s remarkable progress in food grain production since independence and urged farmers to actively submit their demands for various schemes and inputs so that the department can take necessary steps to assist them. Additionally, he sought cooperation from scientific organizations like ICAR for technological support to further enhance agricultural productivity in the region.
About 200 farmers and officials and scientists from various departments, Iaikyrshan and Margar FPOs attended the festival that showcased technologies and products. Farmers were also felicitated for winning in the different contest during the festivals with mementos, certificate and cash prize.
A farmers-scientist Interaction was also held to address problems faced by farmers.
