Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Monday said that the programmes, policies and agenda of the state government are focussed to help and uplift the farmers of the state. Addressing the concluding day’s programme of the 4th Organic Youth Summit in Shillong, Sangma said, “Farmers are an important part of our policies and our different mission mode programmes in agriculture and allied sectors are to push the farmers and give them the necessary support and help.” The 1st Northeast India Organic Week cum Buyer Seller Meet was also simultaneously held during the summit.
“The summit, with the perspective of learning, sharing and helping the farmers, will continue beyond its three days’ schedule,” the Chief Minister said. On the Organic Mission of the state, he said that organic is not just a ‘buzzword’ for the state but goes back to the knowledge, tradition and practices of the forefathers who have been farming for centuries and celebrating that practice and farming. He also informed the gathering that agriculture, tourism and service sector are key sectors for the government. “We are very keen to see that a strong convergence takes place between tourism and agriculture, especially organic farming, so a lot of activities that are taking place in the tourism sector is being connected with the organic mission along with entrepreneurship programmes,” Sangma said.
Expressing happiness that the summit took place in Shillong, he said, “We have been very assertive about organic farming and I hope this summit has been an opportunity to share the knowledge and practices of our forefathers with the rest of the world. Let this be the beginning of building relationships, experience sharing and networking.” The Chief Minister later interacted with participants from other countries who posed questions on the vision of the state, use of technology, logistics support, etc for young organic entrepreneurs. The Organic Meghalaya Compendium, and the website, Megnolia, was also released and launched respectively during the occasion.