Shillong, December 04: The 3rd Meghalaya Farmers’ Parliament was held here today at State Convention Centre, Shillong on the occasion of Farmers’ Day. The conference was inaugurated by the Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma in the presence of Minister, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary, A L Hek and Minister, Agriculture and farmers’ Welfare, M Ampareen Lyngdoh among others.
Addressing the gathering, Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma, said that the framers’ parliament is an important program to celebrate and recognize the work of the farmers.
“This parliament is to acknowledge their work and support them and to send across a message that the government is there with them so that they can improve their livelihood in the farming sector,” he said.
He added that the farmers were already engaged in many farming activities and only a bit of support in terms of storage, transportation, financial aid and policies were needed to make farming remunerative and attractive.
The Chief Minister added that the Regeneration Meghalaya program, an agroforestry project, that he had launched earlier was just a part of a larger goal and objective. “Through this and similar innovative programs of different departments Meghalaya has already started to show the way,” he said.
He also said that it is important to face and address the challenges that are there in the farming sector. “As we move forward we learn from our mistakes and from the challenges and we cannot ignore facts like there are multiple stakeholders and different activities taking place but we have to bring all this together and go with a specific program keeping the larger goal in mind,” he said.
He hoped that the two days’ conference will provide a platform to the farmers to discuss issues, adopt better farming practices incorporating traditional practices, share success stories to boost farmers’ productivity while promoting sustainable agriculture.
He also added that for any program to be successful the community needs to be involved who will drive the program and ensure sustainability of the program and urged the partners of the Regeneration Meghalaya project to establish connect with the community at the grassroots for successful implementation of the program.
“On this Farmers’ Day we recognize and honor the vital contributions made by the 4.5 lakh agricultural households in the development of our State,’’ he concluded.
The Chief Minister also distributed cheques to FOCUS and PES beneficiaries and to beneficiaries under the Piggery Mission. As a part of the Meghalaya Farmers’ Day 11 processing facilities and 4 cold storage facilities were remotely inaugurated by the Chief Minister.
