Scientist says Govt not following up suggestions
SHILLONG: In a sorry state of affairs, the expenditure of Meghalaya against total funds available under the Horticulture Mission for North East and Himalayan States (HMNEH) stands at only 27 per cent.
As per the official documents available with The Shillong Times, Meghalaya was allocated Rs 2833.3 lakh in the financial year 2016-17. However, the unspent balance amount stands at Rs 1222.68 lakh.
As per the documents, the Central share released is Rs 1275 lakh and the total fund available is Rs 1675 lakh, while the expenditure of the state government was only Rs 452.38 lakh.
The documents also reveal that there was financial achievement of 24 per cent for nurseries in the state while the physical achievement percentage is nil.
In terms of post harvest management, the State has a financial achievement of 7.5 per cent while the physical percentage stands at 7.7 per cent.
In market infrastructure, Meghalaya stands nowhere as the physical as well as financial achievement of the state is zero.
In addition, Meghalaya has a capacity of 8200 metric tonnes for cold storage while the requirement is for 18704 metric tonnes.
The figures of Meghalaya and other states were also discussed in the 3rd review meeting with Horticulture Mission for North East and Himalayan States and National Horticulture Mission earlier this year at the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
Though Meghalaya is committed to developing itself into an organic state, it has suddenly stopped buying necessary inputs which are required for organic farming.
Scientist Dr Nilmadhab Nanda, CEO and Principal Scientist, Win (Shree) Crops, California said he had developed an input which doubles the yield of organic produces He said that the State Government had ordered the input in 2013-14 and 2014-15 but the Government did not order the valuable input in 2016-17.
“If the input is discontinued, the objective of Meghalaya for organic farming will reach nowhere,” he said. The scientist will meet the Government officials on Tuesday.
