A Mega National Conference on Doubling Farmers Concluded at Namsai
A National Conference cum Krishi Unnati Mela with a focal theme “Approaches for doubling the farmers income- the road ahead for farmers prosperity” was organized jointly by ICAR RC for NEH Region, AP Centre, Basar and Krishi Vigyan Kendra Namsai with the financial support of National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Itanagar and Arunachal University of Studies, Namsai on 17-18 November, 2018.
The inauguration session was graced by Chow Tewa Mein, Hon’ble MLA Chowkham as Chief Guest and Chow Zignu Namchoom, Hon’ble MLA Namsai as Guest of Honour. The event begun with the inauguration of KVK administrative building and staff quarters of ICAR-KVK, Namsai by the Chief Guest, Chow Tewa Mein, Hon’ble MLA, Chongkham and Guest of Honour, Chow Zignu Namchoom, Hon’ble MLA Namsai in presence of Dr. B. C. Deka, Director, ICAR-ATARI, Umiam, Dr. H. Kalita, Organizing Secretary, Joint Director, ICAR RC NEH Region, AP Centre, Basar, Dr. Tapasya Raghav, IAS, Deputy Commissioner, Namsai, Dr. Manish Kanwat, Organizing Secretary & Senior Scientist cum Head, KVK Namsai and other dignitaries from ICAR, CAU, AAU, NEIST, SLRD, Line Departments, NGOs, FPCs and SHGs. In continuation of the event, the Chief Guest and Guest of Honour inaugurated the exhibition stalls and National Conference cum Krishi Unnati Mela 2018 followed by their visits to all the exhibition stalls set up by ICAR, CAU, AAU, NEIST, SLRD, Line Departments, NGOs, FPCs, SHGs etc., While addressing the inaugural session, the organizing secretary briefed about the necessity and importance of the event. The Chief Guest in his inaugural address expressed his concern about the present situation of agriculture in the state and in particular reference to Namsai district. He also congratulated ICAR RC for NEH Region & KVK Namsai for organizing such a mega event for the overall benefit of the farmers in this region. The Guest of Honour emphasized on strengthening the marketing facilities in the region for enhancing the farmers’ income. Both of them appreciated the efforts made by ICAR, AP Centre, Basar & KVK Namsai for initiating different approaches for doubling the farmers’ income by 2022. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed between SLRD, Shillong and KVK, Namsai for Processing, Value addition, and Marketing of different important underutilized spices and medicinal plants produced abundantly in the region. Farmers Scientist Interaction was also organised with ICAR scientists.
The conference sessions of the second day led under the chairmanship of Dr. N. Prakash Director, ICAR RC for NEH Region, Umiam Meghalaya in presence of Guest of Honour Prof. V.K. Kawatra, Vice Chancellor, Arunachal University of studies, Dr I. Shakuntla Joint Director ICAR Mizoram, Dr. K.K. Baruah , Head Animal Production, Dr. A.K. Jha, Head Horticulture, Dr G.T. Behere, Head Plant Protection, Dr T Samajdar, Principal Scientist & ICAR Nodal Officer, Dr V.S. Devdas, Dean Agriculture, AUS, Dr H. Kalita & Dr Manish Kanwat was full of scientific and technical session comprised of various 11 themes focused on “Approaches for doubling the farmers income- the road ahead for farmers prosperity”. A total of 220 scientists of ICAR, CSIR, CAUs, KVKs, AUS, Ph.D. scholars and students participated in the scientific deliberations in the form of lead lectures, oral & poster presentations. The conference was concluded with the major recommendations of the national conference includes Urgent need to adopt the modern agricultural techniques, popularization of Secondary horticulture, Documentation and validation of traditional knowledge, Organic farming need to be promoted in tribal areas by establishing market linkages through involvement of different stakeholders for providing better returns to the farmers. A souvenir cum proceedings book on’ was also released by the dignitaries during the National conference Cum Krishi Unnati Mela. The programme was ended with the vote of thanks by Organizing Secretary to the Chair.
Altogether more than 1200 numbers of farmers from different districts SRLD, Shillong, FPCs and SHGs successfully participated in the event.
