Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma today called upon professionals to invoke emerging revolutions in agricultural technology for the benefit of ourselves, for the people and for our future generations.
"The biggest 'on' thing will always be agriculture. As professionals let us look at access to emerging revolution in agricultural technology for the benefit of ourselves, for the people and for our future generations," Mukul said while inaugurating the 3rd conference of the Meghalaya Agricultural Technical Government Employees' Service Association (MATGESA) at the Integrated Agriculture Training Centre near here.
Themed - Government-MATGESA-Farmers: Bridging Governance, other topics such as Human Resource Development, Organic Farming & Sustainable Agriculture and Agriculture Marketing and Value Chain with emphasis on high value crops and post harvest management.
Stating that Agriculture is one sector which is connected to the largest number of people as more than 70 per cent of the population in the State are agrarian, the chief minister said, "If we cannot take care of close to 80 per cent of our population, then our economics is wrong and our state will continue to suffer," calling for comprehensive solutions to the problems of the farmers.
When the government comes up with certain programmes to empower the poor, he said, "We need to ensure that they come out of poverty and do not slip back by giving hand holding support and that is how the sustainability of economy can be achieved."
The Chief Minister made an ardent appeal to MATGESA members as professionals to continue to search for answers to overcome the challenges of the farmers; look at many initiatives of the government in the sector and see how they can add on innovations in their approach to delivery.
Stating how bamboo can change the economy of a region, he said, "If the economy of Maharashtra, Gujarat and most of North Indian States can be transformed by sugarcane, we can also transform our rural economy through certain crops that are indigenous."
Stating that the cultivation of paddy would not be remunerative, he suggested value addition through cottage industries and urged the officials of the department to make a proposal to send a delegation to Bangladesh to study and compare with what they do and what can be replicated in the state.
The MATGESA was formed in October, 1980 with the objective to strive for the welfare of the farmers in general and agricultural officers of the State in particular.
