SHILLONG: Meghalaya’s Agriculture Minister , Banteidor Lyngdoh sought the intervention of the Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister, Radha Mohan Singh for appropriate and liberal enhancements in the allocations to the state under centrally-sponsored schemes of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) and Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) for implementing the state’s agricultural missions.
Meeting Singh on Saturday, Lyngdoh submitted a memorandum to him in which the launch of the state’s four missions – Lakadong Turmeric mission, Jackfruit Mission, Mushroom Mission and Honey bee mission – was highlighted such as
In the memorandum, Lyngdoh stated that despite the ban imposed on coal mining and the precarious financial situations, the state Agricultural department was pressing ahead with the these missions.
Pointing to the delay in the setting up of the Central Agriculture University (CAU) at Kyrdemkulai, he said that a plot of land measuring 226.37 acres was handed by the state government to the Vice Chancellor of CAU, Imphal.
“Till date, despite a lapse of four years and handing over of the land, the full-fledged CAU did not come up in Meghalaya for reasons that are not known to us,” Lyngdoh stated.
Again, the state Agriculture Minister urged Singh to set up a Meghalaya State Agricultural Technology Applications Research Institute in the state.
Lyngdoh contended that the footprint of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) at Barapani had still not been greatly felt beyond rice and maize.
He added that technology for processing various fruit trees in the state had never been developed or grounded by the ICAR.