Shillong, Nov 29: Meghalaya has set a target to cover 25 per cent, or one lakh hectare of the State’s cultivated area under certified organic farming by 2028, Commissioner and Secretary Vijay Kumar D said.
Speaking at the inauguration of the first Northeast India Organic Week here today Kumar said, the state has set this “aggressive target” for the state and efforts are on to achieve it.
Kumar said that some of the initiative being taken to achieve this target is by establishing a model in which village-level centres are being connected to large marketing hubs.
He said that through this model a new ginger processing facility has been established with an investment of Rs. 25 crore, which is one of the largest organic processing units for spices in the north eastern region.
Kumar terming Lakadong as the “world’s best turmeric,” said it has curcumin content reaching up to 13 per cent, one of the highest in the world. He also said that the state is also setting up an extraction unit to produce bio-curcumin tablets, which has a high value in the health supplement market.
Kumar while highlighting the abundant bamboo reserves offering a sustainable solution for the region’s naturally acidic soils, he added, efforts are on to more than double farmers’ income by 2028 and that’s possible with Meghalaya’s abundant agricultural resources.
