SHILLONG, April 26: Eyeing to double the ginger production in Meghalaya in the next three years, the state government on Tuesday launched Ginger Mission — a flagship programme that aims to increase state’s ginger production to 1.5 lakh MT per annum from current production of 60,000 MT per annum.
According to a statement, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma launched the flagship programme in presence of Agriculture Minister Banteidor Lyngdoh during a programme at Integrated Agriculture Training Centre, Shillong.
Addressing the gathering, the chief minister informed that the Ginger Mission has been launched with the intent to better the overall earnings of the farmers in the state.
Informing that Rs 121 crore has been earmarked for the Ginger Mission for a period of three years, he said the government is upbeat about Meghalaya becoming the third-largest producer of ginger in the country by the end of the mission.
Conrad also lamented that despite the introduction of farmers’ welfare programmes in the past, the objective to enhance the earnings of the farming fraternity was not realised.
“Through Ginger Mission and other flagship farmers’ programmes, the government has designed a dedicated roadmap to ensure that farmers’ incomes were doubled,” the chief minister informed.
“As government, we have realised that 70 per cent of the population in the state are into farming and it is incumbent on us that we introduce initiatives that directly and indirectly enable our farmers to reap its benefit,” he added.
He also informed that the state government, through Ginger Mission, will create logistic hubs and storage spaces and connect the farmers to bigger markets and buyers. “Government will ensure that all verticals related to introduction of improved seed varieties, training, production and marketing linkage are taken care of to ensure maximum output,” he said.
He assured that the indigenous variety Sying Makhir, which is highly medicinal, will not only be developed but also be promoted under the flagship programme.
It may be mentioned that the Department of Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare will, through the Ginger Mission, introduce improved and high-yielding varieties of ginger such as IISR Mahima, IISR Varada and Nadia — currently being grown widely in Meghalaya.
“Through the mission, about 50,000 farmers will be benefited and the area of production will be increased from 10,000 ha to 12,500 hectare,” a statement in this regard said.
Apart from introducing high-yielding and improved varieties of ginger, the Ginger Mission will also impart training to farmers on Package of Practices (PoP) and the latest production technology, collectivisation and aggregation, and processing of ginger and market linkage.