Shillong, Dec 12: The 25th Regional Committee Meeting (RCM) of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) for eight Northeastern States of India (Zone III) was held on 11th December, 2021 through virtual mode.
The meeting aims to provide a forum to the agricultural researchers, state government functionaries and other stakeholders to discuss the gaps and priorities of agricultural research, education and extension for the next 2 years.
The meeting started with welcoming of the chief guest Shri. KailashChoudhary, Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (Govt. of India) by Shri. Sanjay Garg, Secretary ICAR.
Dr. TrilochanMohapatra, Secretary DARE and DG, ICAR delivered a short presentation on the theme of the meeting and apprised the panelists about the significant achievements of agriculture, livestock and fisheries sector of Northeast India and pointed out the supply-demand deficit of meat and milk in the region.
He accentuated the agricultural scientists to align their research based on the problems faced by the farmers.Shri.KailashChoudhary, in his address highlighted the importance of agricultural development in NE states for overall development of the country.
He furtheremphasized on development of northeast specific crop varieties, popularization of integrated farming system, stemming of decline in NE livestock population, farm mechanization, and building awareness on FPO formation for development of the region.
He has also urged the agricultural scientists to give focus on mission mode programmes such as Bamboo mission, Oil Palm mission, Honey Bee mission, etc for economic growth in the region. Dr. V.K. Mishra, Director ICAR NEH and Member Secretary of the meeting presented the action taken report of the previous RCM Meeting.
Out of 50 issues flagged by the NE states during 24th RCM, majority of the issues were solved.In this 25th RCM meeting, the state wise agenda and various problems related to agriculture were discussed in detail and were decided to be addressed in a time bound manner. Dr. S.K. Chaudhari, DDG (NRM), ICAR and nodal officer of the meeting thanked the dignitaries joined the meeting.
Officials from agricultural, livestock and fisheries department of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura; Officials of ICAR, Directors and Scientists from ICAR institutes, Vice Chancellors and officials of Assam Agricultural University and Central Agricultural university have attended the meeting.
