Shillong, Aug 1: Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that the proposal made by Meghalaya to air lift agricultural products “has been taken sincerely.”
Chouhan who attended the Meghalaya Pineapple Festival in New Delhi today said the option of transporting agri-products via train will also be worked upon.
He said that processing of agricultural products is necessary and serious attempts are being made for establishing relevant processing units. Efforts will also be made to increase the production of pineapple per hectare.
“A requisite roadmap for the development of agriculture in Meghalaya will be prepared in collaboration with the state government,” Chouhan said.
The Union Minister said that the Central government will work in collaboration with the Chief Minister and senior officials of the state for exporting products from the North East region outside the state and abroad. He said the private sector can also play a key role in this regard.
The event started with the exchange of various Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) on pineapple. Thereafter, the Union Minister released a booklet on ‘Meghalaya’s progress in the agriculture sector’.
Chouhan informed that he will soon visit Meghalaya again with a team of scientists. He said that when he visited the state during the ‘Vikasit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan’, the farmers had highlighted several problems and challenges related to agriculture. Farmers had demanded appropriate solutions for increasing the ‘shelf life’ of agricultural products. In this regard, necessary instructions have been given to the scientists of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. Concrete measures will soon be available and research are on, he added.
Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and senior officials of the Centre and the State were also present at the festival.
