ITANAGAR, Aug 2 - Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu, also a member of the PM-constituted High Powered Committee of Chief Ministers for Transformation of Indian Agriculture, has called for providing �accurate and timely� market information to farmers, stressing this would enable them to make informed decisions on what to cultivate.
Speaking during the daylong North East Regional Conference on Transformation of Indian Agriculture in Guwahati today, Khandu said Arunachal produces world class horticulture and agricultural crops, but due to lack of proper market information on demand and price, there has always been a mismatch between farm produce and the actual demand.
While noting that there exists a huge gap between actual market demand and production, the Chief Minister urged the Union Commerce Ministry to step in to empower farmers to make informed decisions.
Khandu, the lone member of the High-Powered Committee from the North East, said that the focus of the conference was to gather valuable inputs and suggestions for preparing a road map for transformation of Indian agriculture in the next few years. The objective of the conference was to derive inputs from all the NE States and industry experts, which will be incorporated in a report for submission to the High Powered Committee in its next meeting to be held in Mumbai on August 16.
Khandu said that the time has come when all policy-makers and technocrats need to focus on sustainable and resurgent agriculture, which is robust, productive, climate-resilient and farmer-oriented. The aim is to make policy decision on existing acts concerning agriculture produce marketing, contract farming, Essential Commodities Act, 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.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis leads the High-Powered Committee for Transformation of Indian Agriculture, that has been holding a series of conferences across the country for preparing a road map for the agriculture sector, which will be submitted to the Government of India in the next few weeks.
The daylong conference organised by the Government of Arunachal Pradesh, in association with TERI and FICCI, was also attended by Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, FICCI NE Regional Advisory Council chairman Ranjit Borthakur, TERI NE Regional Director Dipankar Saharia, APEDA AGM Sunita Rai and others. Agriculture experts, industry experts, officers of agriculture and allied departments of the Government of Arunachal Pradesh also attended the conference.
