GUWAHATI: Assam has exported farm products worth Rs 357 crore to other states of the country during the lockdown so far.
Sharing the achievement with reporters on Tuesday, chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal said that along with the fight against COVID-19, the state government has simultaneously laid emphasis on resumption of economic activities with farmers leading the way.
“The state’s farmers and entrepreneurs in the sector did business worth Rs 357 crore during the lockdown period by exporting farm products to various states of the Northeast and country. This is indicative of the immense potential the state has in the agriculture sector,” Sonowal said.
The chief minister visited Maloibari in Kamrup Metro district on Tuesday and took stock of the farming activities being carried out by the farmers there. He also interacted with the farmers engaged in harvesting of paddy and inspected the functioning of paddy reaper machines distributed by the agriculture department to the farmers.
“Assam can become self resilient and self dependent in agriculture, livestock, fisheries, etc, and state’s farmers have shown that Assam can achieve its development goals by engaging in agriculture and allied sectors with renewed vigour,” he said
Urging the young generation to take up farming as a means of self employment, Sonowal said the farm sector holds the key in providing employment opportunities to the state’s youths returning from outside.
He also stressed on the need to capture farm markets of the Northeast and also penetrate the markets of the South East Asian countries.
The chief minister further directed the agriculture department to provide seeds to farmers by October every year, saying said that timely distribution of seeds can help farmers in increasing production.