Agriculture meet in Guwahati to aid Northeast farmers

GUWAHATI: A northeast regional conference on transformation of Indian agriculture was held in Guwahati on Friday.
Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu, who is a member of the high-powered committee on transformation of Indian agriculture, attended the conference. Speaking on the occasion, he said that a time has come when all the policy-makers and technocrats need to focus on sustainable and resurgent agriculture which will be robust, productive, climate resilient and farmer-oriented.
The day-long conference was organised by the government of Arunachal Pradesh in association with TERI and FICCI, which was also attended by Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal and a host of agricultural scientists, technocrats, government representatives, representatives from the industries and administrators from across the region.
The objective of the conference was to derive inputs from all the northeastern states and industries which will be compiled in the form of a report that will be submitted to the high-powered committee formed by the NITI Aayog, in the next meeting to be held on August 16 in Mumbai.
Khandu said that the thrust is on making policy decisions on existing acts concerning agriculture produce marketing, contract farming and Essential Commodities Act (ECA), among others, to provide the agriculture sector a paradigm shift in the next few years to enhance farmers' incomes.