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CM inaugurates Prime Hub, Cooperative Society head office at Babadam

Shillong, December 1, 2022: Meghalaya Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma, inaugurated the newly constructed Prime Hub-cum-Head office of the All Garo Hills Multipurpose Cooperative Society (AGHMCS) Ltd. at Babadam under Rongram C&RD Block in the presence of the Chief Adviser to the Chief Minister, Thomas A Sangma, Secretary of AGHMCS and the Director of Bakdil NGO, Fr. Sunny Mavellil, Rongram BDO, MR Marak, Parish Priests, Nokmas and other dignitaries on 1 December.

 Inaugurating the much-awaited office of the cooperative society, the chief minister recalled the tireless efforts of Fr. Sunny Mavellil, who is instrumental in forming the AGHMCS with a vision to uplift the standards of the farmers in Garo Hills region and lauded him for completing the construction within a year, the foundation stone for which was laid on 20 December last year.

Stating that there are challenges in bringing development and changes, he informed that there are potentials too in Garo Hills which need cooperative movement to be tapped thereby uplifting the economic conditions of farmers as well as the region as a whole. While talking about the commitment of the Govt. to provide necessary help, he said that the present Govt. has launched FOCUS and FOCUS Plus through which the programs and policies for the welfare of the farmers are being implemented.

The Chief Adviser to the Chief Minister, Thomas A Sangma, while speaking on the occasion said that this office of the AGHMCS is symbol of progress in Garo Hills through the cooperative societies and expected to bring a positive change in the economy of the region. He also expressed his gratitude to the chief minister and the secretary of the AGHMCS for their vision and efforts to transform the region.

 Delivering the welcome address, Fr. Sunny Mavellil, informed the gathering that the Govt. had sanctioned an amount of Rs. 3.30 crores for the construction of this office and another Rs. 3.65 crores is being sanctioned to the AGHMCS for construction of different processing units for ginger, cashew, black pepper, etc. He also informed that so far 30 cooperative societies have been formed in Garo Hills.

 On the day, the chief minister also distributed cheques to various producer groups of Garo Hills under the FOCUS.  

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.