ICAR – 24th Regional Committee Meeting held in Guwahati

Union minister of state for Agricultural and Farmers Welfare Kailash Choudhury graced the occasion as the Chief Guest and Assam Agriculture minister Atul Bora as the guest of honour.

The Regional Committee comprised of the eight states in the North East Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim & Tripura.

The purpose of the Regional Committee is to provide a forum to researchers and the State Government functionaries to examine the major gaps in the current research and training efforts in farming sector; identify priorities and decide agenda of research and extension education for the coming two years.

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has set up eight Regional Committees on the basis of agro-climatic regions. The regional committee meeting is organized to bridge the gap and enhance agricultural productivity through development of cutting edge technology, efficient technology dissemination, entrepreneurship and human resource development.

Addressing the gathering Kailash Choudhury said that research should be focused to fully prepare the farmers with needed technologies for organic agriculture.

He further added that  Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set the target for doubling farmers’ income by 2022 and the farming sector will have to play a very important role in building the $5 trillion economy by 2024.

“For this the scientists have to keep the road map ahead and come up with innovative technologies which benefit the farmers,” Choudhary said.

Assam Agriculture minister Atul Bora said that the government has focused on “Act East Policy” and he stressed on the fact that the focus should be on the agricultural development of the region and maximum utilization of the resources available.

He appreciated the works and efforts made by KVKs of Assam.

Dr. T. Mohapatra, Secretary, DARE and DG, ICAR speaking on the occasion he said that research should not only be production oriented but post harvest management processing and marketing should be an integral part of the research activity.

He urged the participants to also emphasize on the strengths in agricultural sector and to utilize the resources of the region for maximum benefits.

The other dignitaries present for the occasion were Dr. R.C. Agrawal, DDG Education, ICAR and Nodal Officer RCM, B. Pradhan Additional Secretary & Financial Advisor DARE ICAR, and Dr. B.K Kandpal, Director, ICAR, Umiam.

A series of publications were also released in the presence of the dignitaries. 150 delegates from the region, including the Principal Secretaries, Secretaries of the concerned States participated in the meeting with the vision to make agricultural research reach the farmers and to ensure food, nutrition and livelihood security in the North Eastern hill region.

(By Hemanta Kumar Nath, Guwahati)