Arunachal Pradesh took a major leap towards healthy and sustainable agriculture on April 15 with the launch of the State Organic Mission at the state Banquet Hall by Union Minister of State for Micro Small and Medium Enterprise, Giriraj Singh.

With this, the state hopes to shift to organic farming in a phased manner and promote Arunachal Pradesh as an organic state.

Terming Arunachal Pradesh as an agriculture heaven, Singh said that the people here have been abundantly blessed with all of nature’s resources, adding that organic farming will ensure that Arunachal Pradesh becomes a major agro-tourism destination. Asserting that “it is pertinent to add value addition to agriculture and horticulture produces by changing the raw product into something new through different processes”, he reiterated that “Without value addition, it would be a meaningless venture.”

He also assured to look into the problems endemic to the state and ensure that these are looked into.

Minister Agriculture, Wangki Lowang said that Arunachal Pradesh has always been traditionally organic, with the farmers having excellent advantage on natural farming system. He identified the problems of marketing and said that the government is looking at opening agro-based incubators in all the districts of the state.

Lowang appealed to the Union Government to reserve one bogie per month in the train from Naharlagun to Delhi exclusively for carrying the agri-horti produces of the state. He further requested the government to identify a dedicated market in Delhi in a start up basis to sell these produces.

Lowang also requested the state government to procure only organic foods for any state government programmes as a way to encourage the farmers, saying that the focus should be as much on disposing the products as on its production.

Minister Industries, Tamiyo Taga also appealed to the Union Government to provide some sort of fencing scheme for the state. He reasoned that animals like cows and mithuns (gayal) are not domesticated here, which results in trespassing and the crops being eaten away. Taga, a practitioner of organic farming himself, said that the only source of discouragement for the farmers is the lack of market avenues because of which farmers suffer huge loss. He hoped that the Union government will look into this matter and that imports from other states would be banned after Arunachal is declared as an organic state.

Chief Secretary Shakuntala D Gamlin in her keynote address also reiterated that Arunachal Pradesh is by default an organic state as the use of chemical fertilizers is infinitely small in the region as compared to the rest of the nation. She said that the state has vast resources of its own including cultivable land, agriculture and horticulture produces that are world class. With proper connectivity, Gamlin said, the state will be able to make agriculture as the main contributor to its GDP.

She also said that organic farming will ensure that the state has remittance economy and that the youths need not depend on government jobs.

Secretary Agriculture, Government of India, S K Pattanayak, informed the audience about the various schemes available, including the Mission Organic Farming Northeast, which has been set up specifically to help in the traditional ways of organic cultivation and appropriate management of resources. He assured that sufficient funds will be provided to meet any kind of requirements for promoting organic farming in Arunachal Pradesh.

Pattanayak said, “Notwithstanding the size, kiwis of Arunachal Pradesh are even better than that of New Zealand. The only challenge is to market it right.” He appealed to the state government to identify such people who could provide cold storage houses to deal with the perishable items and thereby, its marketing. He is also certain that with the Advance Landing Grounds and the Trans Arunachal Highway coming up, Arunachal will find better marketing opportunities and avenues.

Pattanayak also informed the house that the Government of India will fund a Centre of Excellence at Dirang in West Kameng district to promote floriculture and orchids in the state. With this, the import of flowers from outside can be stopped and the state can use its own resource. He also appealed to the state government for developing saffron in the region and assured help and support in doing so.

With the launch of this mission, the state has outlined measures to discourage use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in Arunachal Pradesh and gradually substitute plant nutrients by organic manures and bio-fertilisers as well as manage control of diseases and insect pests by biological control measures, along with creating and developing markets for organic food produces of the state.

Minister, Veterinary & Animal Husbandry Mohesh Chai was also present on the occasion.

Source: arunachaltimes