+913642224282 cmomeghalaya@gmail.com

Chief Minister rolled out Ginger Mission in Garo Hills

Shillong, April 29, 2022: Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Friday rolled out the “Ginger Mission” at Oragitok under Rongram Block in West Garo Hills on Friday in presence of MLA Thomas A Sangma and other dignitaries.

The flagship programme of the Government was recently launched, which aims to increase the production of ginger with introduction of improved and high yielding varieties. The programme will benefit about 40,000 farmers in the State.

Interacting with the farmers, the Chief Minister said that a total of  ₹ 121 cr has been earmarked for the next three years for the implementation of the programme, which includes establishment of processing units, imparting training and marketing linkage.

He said that the core objective of the mission is to increase the production of ginger from 60 MT per annum to 150 MT per annum in the next three years, and ensure that Meghalaya becomes one of the largest producers of ginger in the country.

He informed that Meghalaya government has initiated different programmes for the welfare of farmers like piggery mission, jackfruit mission, poultry mission, goatry mission, promotion of SHGs, and the largest farmers collectivisation programme FOCUS.

Informing that in the last four years, the Government through different farmers programmes have mobilised more than ₹ 1000 cr, he said, “For effective utilisation of the funds and schemes, we need to ensure that people at the grassroots are well informed about this programme and take maximum advantage with the formation of cooperatives societies, SHGs and producers group”.

He said that Meghalaya has close to about 4.5 lakh farmers and it will be difficult for the State machinery to reach out to them directly, he urged different individuals and organisations to come together to initiate formation of cooperative and multi-purpose societies.

During the programme, he also distributed cheques amounting to ₹ 27.60 lakhs to 40 Producer Groups (PGs). It is to be mentioned that till date, 287 PGs covering 1876 households with ₹1.8 cr have been disbursed so far in Rongram Block.

The Chief Minister also distributed bee-keeping boxes under Apiculture Mission 2.0 to beneficiaries.

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.