Kailash Choudhary, Union Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare delivering the welcome address at the 25th Regional Committee Meeting of ICAR for Northeastern States (Zone III) via virtual mode on December 11. (Photo Courtesy: ICAR-NEH)
ICAR holds 25th Regional Committee Meeting for NE States
Medziphema, December 11 (MExN): The Union Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Kailash Choudhary on December 11 called for development of North East specific crop varieties and popularisation of integrated farming system in the region.
Addressing the 25th Regional Committee Meeting (RCM) of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) for eight NE States (Zone III) virtually as the chief guest, he further batted for stemming the decline in NE livestock population, farm mechanization, and building awareness on Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO) formation for development of the region.
Highlighting the importance of agricultural development in NE states for overall development of the country, Choudhary 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.
According to an ICAR release, the meeting was aimed at providing 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.
Earlier, Dr Trilochan Mohapatra Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) & Director General, ICAR apprised the panelists about the significant achievements of agriculture, livestock and fisheries sector of NE and pointed out the supply-demand deficit of meat and milk in the region.
He further emphasised the agricultural scientists to align their research based on the problems faced by the farmers.
Dr VK 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, he said.
At 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, the release said.
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 attended the meeting.
