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| Photo 1: Minister of Agriculture, Meghalaya receiving the Award |
The Ministry of Agriculture, Government
of India conferred the Department of Agriculture Meghalaya with the Krishi
Commendation Award for the year 2015-16, in recognition of the commendable foodgrains production achieved by the State. The
Award carries a citation, trophy and a cash award of INR 1(One) Crore. The
award was received by the Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Shri. Conrad K. Sangma on
behalf of the people of the State, from the Prime Minister of India, in
presence of Agriculture Minister, Shri. Banteidor Lyngdoh, Shri.B.Mawlong, MCS,
Joint Secretary Agriculture and Shri. R.Langstieh, Director of
Agriculture(R&T).
The Chief Minister dedicated the award
to the people of the State and especially the farmers. “It gives an immense
pleasure that I have received the award on behalf of the farmers of the State,
who have scripted a success story. It is just the beginning and we are looking
forward to support our farmers in the best possible way”, said the CM. The
Chief Minister thanked the Prime Minister, Shri. Narendra Modi and the Ministry
of Agriculture for recognizing Meghalaya with this award, which was possible
because of the hard work of the farmers and the officials of the Department of
Agriculture and other stakeholders.
Addressing the gathering at the Krishi Unnati Mela held at IARI, Pusa New Delhi, the Prime
Minister of India said that Unnati Mela play a key role in paving the way for
New India. He said that today, he has the opportunity to simultaneously speak
to two sentinels of New India- farmers and scientists. He said farmers and
scientists have to work together to transform agriculture. The Prime Minister
specially mentioned the State of Meghalaya, which received an award for its
achievements in agriculture, in the period under review. The Prime Minister
appreciated the spirit and the hard work of our farmers, for their achievements
in agriculture since independence. He said that today, there is record
production of foodgrains, pulses, fruits and vegetables, and milk. He said that
there are important challenges in agriculture today, which reduce the farmers
income, and increase his losses and expenditure. He said the Government is
working with a holistic approach to deal with these challenges. He said the aim
remains to double farmers incomes, and make the farmers lives easier.
The Prime Minister also said
comprehensive steps are being taken for Agriculture Marketing Reforms. It is
important to connect Rural Retail Markets with wholesale and global markets. He
said that in the recent Union Budget, Grameen Retail Agriculture Markets have been
envisaged. 22,000 rural haats will be upgraded with necessary infrastructure,
and integrated with APMC and the e-NAM platform.
The
Prime Minister also emphasized on the importance of Farmer Producer
Organizations. He said Farmer Producer Organizations, would be given relief on
income tax, on the lines of cooperative societies. He said a new chapter in
Agriculture Marketing Reform is being added in this programme, with the
e-marketing portal for organic products. He said that along with the Green
Revolution and White Revolution, we must stress on Organic Revolution, Water
Revolution, Blue Revolution, and Sweet Revolution. The Prime Minister said
that the Government is working to ensure that adequate Agriculture Credit is
available.
It may be mentioned that Meghalaya has received
the Krishi Award from the Ministry of Agriculture for four consecutive years under
the programme “National Food Security Mission”, a centrally sponsored scheme of
the Central Government, which aims to increase production and productivity of
foodgrains like Rice, Maize and Pulses in the country.
(This article has been reproduced and adapted from the official press release of DIPR, Government of Meghalaya)
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