Dimapur: A two-day national conference on “Hill Agro-Ecosystem: Challenges and Opportunities for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals” commenced on Friday at the ICAR Nagaland Centre, Jharnapani, Medziphema, under the aegis of the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) Research Complex North East Hill (NEH) Region, Nagaland Centre, in collaboration with the Indian Association of Hill Farming.
The conference aims to find a roadmap to develop the agriculture sector in the hills of the northeast.
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
A total of 250 delegates, including scientists, researchers, educators, students and farmers, from across the country are attending the conference.
Also Read: Assam: Two killed as bike crashes into parked truck in Sadiya
Nagaland governor La Ganesan, who was the chief guest at the inaugural programme, dwelt on how different sustainable cropping patterns and resource management practices have evolved in time and have been adopted within the diverse hill agro-ecosystem to meet the food and other livelihood requirements of the people in the region.
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
He said the numerous challenges faced by the hill farming sector and the agriculture pattern of the hill region need to be supported by region-specific crop varieties, safe use of new technologies from mechanisation and adequate Infrastructure facilities to foster sustainable growth in agriculture and its allied sector.
Ganesan also said with its uniqueness of Indigenous crops and farming practices, Nagaland has immense potential to develop market agriculture products to benefit local communities and preserve the rich biodiversity of the state.
Also Read: Assam investment scam: CBI files chargesheet against Ranjit Kakoty
In his address, KM Bujarbaruah, former DDG, ICAR New Delhi, and former VC, Assam Agriculture University, called for addressing the constraints in the agriculture sector in the region such as management, physical marketing, mechanisation, environmental, technical and infrastructural issues.
He said the state governments of the region must be roped in to formulate a policy for upgrading and upscaling the agri sector in the region, as the scientists alone cannot address these issues.
Bujarbaruah suggested that the NE region must adopt heavy terracing in the hill ecosystem. He also stressed that the region must take up natural and integrated farming for growth and sustenance.
“The NE missed the green revolution. So let’s dive into the evergreen revolution,” he added.