Director of Agriculture, Ben Yanthan on Friday said agriculture sector in the state faced various challenges in achieving sustainability due to predominant reliance on traditional farming methods and external support from the government and donors.
Addressing the valedictory programme of the national seminar on “Sustainable emerging approach in Agri-business development”, Yanthan said the problems did not end there, but limited access to resources along with inadequate infrastructure exacerbated the problem and consequently, agricultural yields remained generally low, prevented rural households from producing significant quantities for sale in the market.
He said agriculture also faced several obstacles, such as a lack of irrigation facilities, limited connectivity, and unorganized marketing channels and suggested the need for increased investment in agricultural research and development.
Taking all those into account, the state government has implemented several initiatives to promote agriculture, including soil health card distribution, crop insurance, and organic farming, he said.
The director also pointed out that Nagaland had the potential to transform into an organic state without a major shift in its existing farming practices. To achieve this, Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North East Region (MOVCD-NER), a sub-mission under National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA), launched by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, has been implemented with the department of Agriculture, as the lead department.
Under MOVCDNER, the department has already certified 23,000 hectares of land and established 38 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs).
On Oil palm cultivation, the director said that areas such foothills, wastelands, existing and abandoned Jhums under rainfed conditions would be targeted without disturbing forest land and would be carried out using a project-based approach on cultivable wasteland.
He said oil palm production which was energy-efficient, with lesser use of fertilizers and pesticides, reducing environmental harm and farmers could earn a profit for over 25 years, as Oil Palm fruits were harvested year-round, providing permanent employment compared to seasonal work with other vegetable oil crops.
Yanthan further said that additional research findings on Oil Palm cultivation in the state, conducted by the Indian Institute of Oil Palm Research (IOPR), will soon be published by the department in local print media.
Earlier, the programme began with an invocation by Assistant Prof. NU,SAS Dr. Sentimenla, welcome address by Dean, NU,SAS, Prof. L. Daiho and vote of thanks by Asso. Prof., NU, SAS, Dr Khan Chand.