Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal speaking at North East Regional Conference on Transformation of Indian Agriculture. Image credit: UB Photos

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Friday stressed the importance of adopting organic farming in Northeast.

โ€œNortheast with its fertile land, sufficient rainfall and rich biodiversity has the potential to capture the market of entire South-East Asia consisting of 800 million people,โ€ Sonowal said.

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He was speaking at the inaugural session of Northeast Regional Conference on Transformation of Indian Agriculture organised in Guwahati.

โ€œAct East Policy has provided a great opportunity to the region for massive economic growth through the export of quality organic agricultural products,โ€ Sonowal said.

โ€œAssam government has taken up exhaustive plans to convert the state agriculture sector into organic farming,โ€ he further said.

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The CM also informed that the stateโ€™s vegetables and fruits have received a good response in the international market.

Citing Vietnamโ€™s example, Sonowal said, โ€œThree decades ago the country did not have a flourishing economy but in 30 years the country has achieved $34 million worth of yearly agricultural exports.โ€

โ€œThe country has been able to capture the world market through value addition of their agricultural products,โ€ Sonowal said.

โ€œNortheast Agri exports could capture the market of entire South East Asia by following such example,โ€ he opined.

Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu, FICCI NEC chairman Ranjit Borthakur, chairman of Agricultural Processed Food Products Export Development Authority Paban Borthakur also spoke at the programme.