SHILLONG: Meghalaya Governor Ganga Prasad on Wednesday said the potential of Northeast in the agriculture sector needs to be harnessed for development and creation of jobs.
Speaking at the conference on “Linking Startups and SMEs in Food Processing with Government Schemes & Markets” at ICAR in Umiam on Wednesday, Prasad affirmed that farm production of the region has increased and the potential of agro-based agriculture needed to utilised properly.
The conference was organised by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industries of India (ASSOCHAM) in collaboration with the Union ministry of food and processing industries and ICAR Research Centre for NEH Region.
“Meghalaya is bestowed with abundant natural resources which need to be tapped for its development which in return will create a lot of employment opportunities for the youths,” he said.
Stating that the potential for agro-based food processing industries in Meghalaya is very high, Prasad said besides the major food crops of rice and maize, the state is also renowned for its horticultural crops like orange and lemon.
According to Governor, Meghalaya has also achieved success in the cultivation of non-traditional crops such a tea, cashew nuts, oilseeds, tomato, mushroom and wheat.
He also felt there was enough potential for setting up a starch-based processing unit in the state.
B. Mawlong, joint secretary of the department of agriculture, in his inaugural address informed that the total cropped area in the state increased by about 42 per cent during the past 25 years. He said the food grains production sector covered over 60 per cent of the total crop area.
Earlier, Ramgopal Laha, in-charge director of ICAR NEH, in his welcome address, said the objective of the conference was to create awareness among budding entrepreneurs about government schemes, with special focus on aromatic plants and spices.