+913642224282 cmomeghalaya@gmail.com

Shillong, September 28, 2022: Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma, today attended the Inaugural Session of three days’ national seminar on ‘Interface with Award Winning KVKs Building of Success’ at College of Post Graduate Studies in Agricultural Sciences, CAU, Umiam.

Addressing the gathering, Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma, said that the program which was being held for the first time in the country is simple yet important that recognizes the work of the KVKs. “Besides acknowledging the services of KVK scientists it gives an opportunity to be able to share the best practices that are happening in different KVKs throughout the country, especially in the Northeast for the ultimate benefit of the farmers,” he said.

The Chief Minister also said that the famers have always been the core focus of the government of Meghalaya. “The farmers have multiple problems of procuring seeds on time, market connectivity, lack of storage facilities, lack of technical and scientific support and lack of packaging facilities for the products,” he said. He said that the farmers need different interventions at different levels.

He also said that it would not be in the fitness of things to bring a practice from outside and forcing the people to do it. “Changing the entire way of farming would be incorrect and unfair but to bring in scientific and technical knowledge and skills to the existing practices to achieve a sustainable model of farming is the real challenge,” he said. He further added that the farmers are the asset of the nation and solutions to the problems of the farmers also requires innovation and planning.

He further suggested that the deliberations of the seminar should be documented and shared with every State so that each State can adopt some of the practices that are most suitable for the State.

Initiatives : Agriculture

Launch of “Restart Meghalaya Mission’ on 15th August 2020

The Mission comprise of a series of interventions to support farmers and entrepreneurs by enabling them to build growth-promoting basic infrastructure and services. Under this Mission, 1917iTEAMS – the IT Platform aimed at enabling farmers access to agricultural information, crop advisories and markets will be expanded logistically through induction of another 100 vehicles.

Creation of the Directorate of Food Processing on May 2018

With the objective of seizing opportunities in the sector and the untapped food processing potential of the state for uplifting the livelihoods of farmers and value chain actors, the Government of Meghalaya created the Directorate of Food Processing (DFP) as a one-stop agency to handle all matters relating to food processing in the state and to deal with all central government Ministries and Agencies (viz. Ministries of Agriculture, and Food Processing, SFAC, NCDC, NABARD, etc.) in all matters pertaining to the development of agricultural food processing sector.

First Ever Farmer’s Parliament held on 4th - 5th December 2018

The parliament was organised by the state department of agriculture in collaboration with Meghalaya Basin Development Authority (MBDA) and the Hill Farmers' Union (HFU). As a step toward the promotion of new technologies, HFU with the support of Meghalaya government, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence App for farmers — called Nongrep (nongrep in Khasi language means farmer) with its software partner Impetus Solutions from Hyderabad — as a social innovation project. This app will address matters of farm aggregations, soil health and disease identification, crop yield, farm produce pickups, market linkage and retail sellers app.

Launch of the Farmer’s Portal on 7th May 2018

The Meghalaya Famers’ Portal (www.megfarmers.gov.in) of the Department of Agriculture is a platform for farmers to seek any information related to agriculture. Detailed information on farmers’ insurance, agricultural storage, crops, extension activities, seeds, pesticides, farm machineries, etc. is provided. Details of fertilizers, market prices, package and practices, programmes, welfare schemes are also given.

Awards & Recognitions
  • Meghalaya has been selected for the Commendation award in 'Total foodgrains Category-III' for 2017-18. The award consists of a citation and an amount of Rs. 1 crore.
  • Meghalaya Agriculture Department and the MIE Meghalaya Team won the '7th eNabling North East (eNorth East) Award 2019-20' in the 'Agriculture & Rural Development' category for 1917 iTEAMS project which is a project in collaboration with Digital India.
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi awarded Meghalaya on May 2018 the Krishi Commendation Award for the year 2015-16, in recognition of the commendable foodgrains production achieved by the State.
  • Meghalaya has been adjudged the Most Improved Small State in the category of Agriculture and received the India Today – "The State of the States” Award on 23rd November 2018.