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Chief Minister felicitates entrepreneurs

Shillong, 28th Oct 2022: Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma, today felicitated entrepreneurs at a program ‘Meghalaya Celebrating Entrepreneurs’, at State Convention Centre, Shillong. The program was also attended by Country Program Officer, IFAD, Meera Mishra.

Addressing the gathering, Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma said that various programs in the State for the youth, women, farmers and entrepreneurs started with the vision of making Meghalaya among the top states in the country. “The vision of making Meghalaya among the top states in the country is a goal that has been driving us in everything that we are trying to do and we realize that in order to be able to achieve that until unless we see the incomes growing at the grassroots level we will not be able to achieve that goal,” he emphasized.

He also added that to work with the farmers and entrepreneurs in rural areas there is a need for organizational structure to help the people. “The different Integrated Village Cooperative Societies, the producers’ groups are channels or institutionalize the system and to ensure that the benefits of the different programs trickle down to the grassroots level,” he said. He said that entrepreneurs are vital in the entire organizational structure at all levels to collect, aggregate and sell the products at a higher price of what an individual farmer can sell. “The government is just a facilitator but it is the people, the farmers, producers and entrepreneurs who have to run the system,” he informed.

The Chief Minister also stated that the service sector will generate a large means of livelihood for the next generation. “With a great potential in Tourism, this sector along with IT sector will be very crucial for our people,” he added.

The Chief Minister distributed cheques to Best Producer Groups, Best Integrated Village Cooperative Societies, Best Collecting Centers, Best Ginger Processing Units and also distributed sanctions to Meghalaya Ateliers Program under Meghalayan Age for handicrafts and Culinary Ateliers Program and also distributed sanction to different beneficiaries under the Homestay Scheme of the Tourism department.

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.