Focus on Sustainable and Resurgent Agriculture: CM Sarbananda Sonowal

GUWAHATI: A day-long Northeast regional conference on ‘Transformation of Indian Agriculture’ organized by the Government of Arunachal Pradesh, in association with TERI and FICCI, was held in Guwahati on Friday. The conference was attended by Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, and with the participation of a host of agricultural scientists, technocrats, government representatives, representatives from the industries and administrators from across the region.

The focus of the conference was to gather valuable inputs and suggestions for preparing a roadmap for the transformation of Indian agriculture in the next few years. The objective of this conference is to derive inputs from all the NE states and industries which will be compiled in a report for submission to the high-cower committee to be formed by the NITI Aayog in the next meeting to be held on August 16 at Mumbai.

Speaking on the occasion, Khandu, who is also a Member of the high-power committee on transformation of Indian agriculture, said that a time has came when all the policy makers and technocrats need to focus on sustainable and resurgent agriculture which shall be robust, productive, climate resilient and pro-farmer oriented. The aim is make policy decision on existing acts concerning agriculture produce marketing, Contract farming, Essential Commodities Act (ECA) etc. as per the terms of reference of the NITI Aayog to provide the agriculture sector a paradigm shift in the next few years to enhance farmers’ income.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said there is a need to prioritize the agriculture sector for a sustainable economic uplift of the farmers. He also emphasized in having a proper roadmap for the inclusive growth of the agriculture and allied sector. He reiterated in the need for a focus planning and policy documentation in view of the increasing demand for food crops. He also expressed his view in having state-specific changes in the prevalent Acts and rules governing the agriculture and modify them to suit the farmers’ interests.

The high-power committee for the transformation of Indian agriculture, which is headed by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, has been holding a series of conferences across the country for preparing a roadmap for the agriculture sector, which will be submitted to the Government of India in the next few weeks.

Earlier, welcoming the guests and participants, Arunachal Pradesh Agricultural Production Commissioner A K Singh emphasized on the potentialities of NE states in agriculture which is more or less organic nature can be a new growth engine as far as augmenting the productivity of agriculture is concerned. He also briefed that NE region did not get many benefits of the Green Revolutions of the sixties but now the time has come when the NE states can surge ahead in augmenting the agriculture and allied sector for sustainable growth. In a presentation made on the occasion, Singh also briefed for the need of a collaborative effort in transformation of Indian agriculture through scientific intervention, knowledge empowerment and special economic support from the Government of India to make the agriculture sector a dynamic, vibrant and sustainable not only for Arunachal Pradesh but also for the entire NE region, a press release said.

Also Read: Assam Floods: Agriculture Department Needs Rs 35 Crore