‘Be ambassadors of organic products of Nagaland’: APC Kikheto

Buyer-seller meet for agri & horti products held in Dimapur

Morung Express News
Dimapur | March 11

With the objective of providing platform for all stakeholders including the farmers, aggregators, entrepreneurs, processors, exporters and financial institutes to associate and network with each other to create long term linkages, a conference cum buyer-seller meet for agriculture and horticulture products with special focus on organic products of Nagaland was held at Hotel Saramati, Dimapur on March 11.

Among others, another objective of the meet was to facilitate opening of organic products in the state and promote the brand ‘Naga Organic’ for national and international market.

Addressing the meet, Agriculture Production Commissioner (APC), Y Kikheto Sema said that the country was looking towards NE region as the organic hub since the best fruits and vegetables in the country were being produced from the region. 

“Besides providing the best fruits and vegetable, we (NE) provide the best ecological services as the region is considered the youngest soil in the world,” he added.

Kikheto said earlier the Naga farmers could not engage in farming on commercial scale owing to infrastructure and road connectivity issues but added that the issues would be resolved within few years from now. He said 80% of the Nagas live in rural areas out of which 75% are engaged in farming, mostly the traditional jhum cultivation. 

“Since jhuming is not economically and ecologically viable we have decided to introduce Naga Model Integrated Settled Farming. If it is successful, we will implement the model in all the districts,” the APC said.

He also emphasized the need to revive springs and create water bodies for any farming activity to ensure double cropping and sustainability. 

Kikheto briefly highlighted the success of Coffee in the state saying that it is currently being imported to South Africa as the best Coffee in the world. He said Coffee farming has covered 10,000 hectares in the state and envisages covering 30,000 hectares by 2030.

To buyers who converged from different states in the country, Kikheto requested them to be ambassadors of organic products of Nagaland. He told the buyers that the State was free from any sort of discrimination on the basis of caste, religion, region etc and urged them to feel comfortable to do business with Naga farmers. He, however, urged them to give the best price to the farmers for their produces.

Assistant General Manager, Agriculture and Processed Food Product Export Development Authority (APEDA), Sunita Rai said the Authority was trying to bring Northeast region on the export map of India.

Presenting an overview of organic scenario in the state, Additional Director, Agriculture, S Kivikhu Achumi informed that 6000 hectares have been certified as organic so far.

The inaugural programme was attended by Director, Agriculture, M Ben Yanthan, Director, Horticulture, Dr Elithung Lotha, host of officers from the two departments and organic producers from the State.

Some of the targeted organic produces from the State include ginger, turmeric, pineapple, naga king chilly, large cardamom, french bean (kholar), brown rice, kiwi, maize etc.

The programme, organized by Department of Agriculture and sponsored by APEDA and Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India , will culminate on March 12.

The programme is supported under Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region (MOVCDNER), Ministry of Agriculture Cooperative and Farmers Welfare. The Departments of Agriculture and Horticulture have formed 14 numbers of Farmers Producers Organization under MOVCDNER focusing on value crops.