APC Nagaland, Y. Kikheto Sema forwarded several proposals at the 25th regional committee meeting of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) through a video conference on Saturday.
According to a DIPR report, Kikheto said that even after 59 years of statehood, there was “no worth mentioning national or regional institute” in the state and appealed to consider the proposals.
CAU at State Agriculture Research Station
Kikheto informed that about 70% of the state’s population was engaged in agriculture out of which 73% was under jhum agriculture, which he said was neither economically viable nor ecologically sustainable.
He however said that jhum cultivation could not be stopped, hence there was a need of Central Agriculture University (CAU) specialising in upland or hill agriculture technologies.
Regional Centre for Soil & Water Conservation
The APC stressed on the need to conserve soil and water and creation of water bodies and stated that after 58 years of statehood the union government had only recently sanctioned for soil testing labs in all 11 districts and mini STLs in all the 74 blocks of the state.
He therefore proposed for a regional centre for soil & water conservation to be established at Sechu-Zubza where Soil & water Conservation Research and Training Centre had sufficient area of 21 hectares.
By this intervention, he said it would provide a platform to conduct basic and applied research in the field of soil & water conservation in the NER.
Regional Livestock Centre on pigs in Zunheboto
Stating that Nagas were mostly pork lovers and considering the requirement being met through imports from other states APC said it was estimated that meat worth about Rs. 1,000 crores were imported annually to meet the local requirement.
In this regard, he proposed for a Regional Livestock Centre on pigs at Zunheboto district which was centrally located in the state where pig feeds could be easily procured and processed from nearby districts.
Establishment of Organic Hub with quality facilities
Kikheto said that although the state was by and large organic, there were no institutes established to facilitate and screen for the quality parameters including certification body. The normal organic certification process takes three years, he said.
He however said that jhum fields remained productive only for two years during which most of the vegetables were produced. In this, he proposed the possibility of certifying as organic after two years.
Naga Integrated Settled Farming
Kikheto also urged the house to adopt the Naga Model of Integrated Settled Farming (NiSF). He said that NiSF should be adopted by all the agri. & allied departments in a cluster mode and that the most important factor under this model was the availability of water.
He informed that this model was already being implemented at Boke-Botsa under Kohima district as pilot project and if the centre promoted the model, jhum areas could be reduced and forest protected simultaneously increasing ecological services.
Kikheto stated that most of the centrally sponsored schemes and policies were designed for the mainland India as one-size-fits-all programmes.
He therefore said the policy makers and scientist should also focus on NER specific schemes and highlighted how there was much variation in cost norms for hilly regions because of the topographical challenges.
The APC proposed for a Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) for the new district of Noklak and assured that the state’s agri. & allied departments would continue to closely work with ICAR and KVKs for the benefit of the farming community.
Earlier, the meeting was chaired by secretary, DARE & director general, ICAR, DR. T. Mohapatra and attended by senior centre officials, vice chancellors, heads of ICAR institutions, scientists and officers of agriculture & allied departments of NER.