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Over Rs. 1000 cr disbursed to farming communities in Meghalaya via welfare schemes in last 4 years

Shillong, August 11, 2022 : Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Thursday said that over Rs. 1000 crore has been disbursed to farming communities in the State through different welfare schemes including FOCUS programme in the last four years.

Informing that FOCUS being the biggest welfare programme for the benefit of 4.5 lakh farmers, he said that the Government has realised the importance of the programme and has decided to provide additional direct transfer of Rs. 5000 each as family benefit to every farming household in the State through FOCUS+ programme.

He said that through the FOCUS programme close to 18000 producer groups have been formed across the State and more such groups are being formed.

He added that 2.5 lakh farmer families have reaped the benefits of the scheme.

The Chief Minister said that the farming communities in the State are very upbeat about the programme, which made the Government launch FOCUS+ programme to further provide additional Rs. 5000 to each farming individual directly to their account.

He also informed that Rs. 5000 assistance that is being provided is not any kind of loan and the financial assistance is being provided as seed money for initiating farming and allied activities for income generation.

He further told that through programmes like Northeast Food Show that is being organised annually in Shillong, the State Government has been able to promote and showcase different products of the farming communities and those of the entrepreneurs.

He said that through the different initiatives of the Government, the farmers and the entrepreneurs have been linked to markets – nationally and globally.

During the launch of FOCUS+ at Betasing in South West Garo Hills on Thursday, the Chief Minister along with Government Chief Whip Marcuise Marak and advisor to Chief Minister Thomas A Sangma and other MDCs handed over cheques amounting to Rs. 22.95 lakhs to 40 Producer Groups.

FOCUS, originally launched on March 2021, has benefitted 2.5 lakh farmers till date. It was launched to boost agri economic activities by collectivization of Producer Groups to farm and non-farm produce.

Under FOCUS+, households would be provided with a FOCUS+ card as an Identification and cash transfer of Rs. 5,000 as family benefit. Individuals would need to get registered under a producer group to avail the benefit. This is an additional benefit over Rs. 5,000 to producer group account from the FOCUS scheme.

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.