Kohima: The productivity of various Agricultural and Horticultural commodities in Nagaland is higher as compared to other North East States, but need to follow the scientific method of cultivation to come at par with the productivity of other parts of the country, according to Assistant General Manager of APEDA.
Making a Special Presentation at a workshop, Assistant General Manager of Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), Bidyut Kumar Baruah said there is vast potential for development of Agricultural and Horticultural commodities, including herbal and medicinal plants, in Nagaland.
The fertile soil with different climate conditions from tropical to temperate, gives an opportunity to grow various crops as per the demand in the market.
Mr Boruah said there is a need to focus on productivity and quality now as cultivable land is decreasing, population is increasing and price competitiveness of various produce in the global market is increasing.
To counter this problem there is a need to think about the formation of farmers cluster for such crops which has demand in the market, use of quality seeds for plantation, pre and post harvest management, installation of quality assurance and quality control system, establishment of proper infrastructure like cold storage, pack house and processing facilities.
He informed cent per cent assistance for development of common infrastructure facilities which has fully utilized by various states of the country.
He further informed that location wise Nagaland is in advantageous position as it can play an important role towards development of economy in the whole region.
The state can reap the benefit by exporting to ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) countries with the Look East Policy of the Union Government. It is possible, if a conducive atmosphere is created to maintain uninterrupted flow of goods through the National Highway 29.
Everyone in North East has a dream to see North East to be a place like Hong Kong, Singapore or Mumbai, where lots of trading activities takes place instead of bandhs.
Mr Baruah said that the budding entrepreneurs of Nagalanjd will have to be more pro-active to take benefit offered by various agencies of Government of India and the state Government to establish themselves and lead the whole region towards prosperity. (UNI)