Dimapur: The third North East Agri Expo here has emphasized regular and effective interactions among farmers, the scientific community and government officials for ensuring sustainable agricultural practice in the north eastern region.
Keeping in mind the imperatives of ecological conservation in the face of climatic change and global warming.
The series of seminars and interactive sessions organized as part of the three-day Expo that concluded on Saturday, recommended that agriculture and allied departments in association with ICAR, universities, Central Institute of Horticulture and other R & D institutes in the region should organize interactions with the farmers at least at six months interval under the chairmanship of APC of the respective state in order to avoid gaps and duplications of different interventions.
The national level seminars held under the theme of Progressive Agriculture also recommended for identification, development and standardization of suitable technologies and indigenous knowledge system (IKS) for sustainable agriculture in the face of climate change.
All institutions need to pool their resources and work together in synergy, the seminars insisted.
All states of the region should lay emphasis on effective conservation, characterization, utilization and registration of farmers’ crop varieties and sustainable package of practices where protection to soil quality, water and forests put on equal foot.
Laying emphasis on production and productivity of market driven crops, the Expo called for a revisit of the issues relating to jhum cultivation in the context of climate resilient practices.
It also emphasized the need for rainwater conservation by using various harvesting methods for utilizing it in the crop fields during dry period.
To minimize pressure on ecology, the seminar called for strengthening agro-forestry based farming system with intervention of suitable modern technology in case of horticultural crops for sustainability.
The farmers should also be encouraged for commercial cultivation of location specific indigenous fruits and vegetables for nutritional and income security of the people.
The Expo, jointly organized by the Nagaland government and Union agriculture ministry, recommended for empowerment of local youth through various capacity building programmes for marketing of the agricultural produces within and outside the region.
During the closing session last evening, state agriculture production commissioner H K Khulu informed that over 1,800 farmers from the NE states took part in the Expo.
US senator from District of Columbia Paul Strauss visited the Expo and the Nagaland government signed a MoU with Washington DC based NGO for promotion of sustainable agriculture and tourism sector in Nagaland.
Diplomats from ASEAN member states also visited the Agri Expo. (PTI)