Shillong, July 27: The Meghalaya Government is looking to further extend the Jackfruit Mission after seeing the positive impact to boost the livelihood of the farmers in the State.
The Jackfruit Mission 1.0 which was launched in 2018 in its final year of its implementation.
Talking to reporters after formally inaugurating the one-day event on the sale of jack fruit products which has been named as ‘Jack Start 2023’ held at the State Convention Centre, Agriculture Minister, Ampareen Lyngdoh said that it was important to have a continuity in any mission that the state embarks upon.
According to her, a five-year mission likely will be inadequate time for the government to evaluate on the kind of entrepreneurship that has been generated out of this mission.
Stating that after interacting with the farmer producer groups, she had learnt that it has generated a lot of employment and these entrepreneurs are now earning between Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 a day.
The Agriculture Minister said that she would impress upon Chief Minister, Conrad K. Sangma if the Jack Mission 2.0 can be launched next year by providing adequate funding towards this programme.
Informing that the amount that was sought for the 1.0 mission was Rs 20 crore and the government could allot only Rs 5 crore.
According to her, even with this amount she could witness how things have shaped up and stressed that there was a need to continue with this mission.
Earlier, the Agriculture Minister had visited the various stalls which were selling different kind of jackfruit products.
Others who were present during the inaugural mission include K.N. Kumar, Chairman, Meghalaya Farmers'(Empowerment) Commission, Agriculture & Farmers Welfare director, Isawanda Laloo among others.
