Skip to content Skip to navigation

Look East Policy can boost the agri-horti sector: Tarun Gogoi

The Directorate of Agriculture, the Directorate of Horticulture and Food Processing, Assam and the Assam Agricultural University in association with the Indian Chamber of Commerce and the Assam Horticultural Society Wednesday organized the 1st Assam International Agri-Horticultural Show 2014 at the College of Veterinary Science Playground, Khanapara, Guwahati, Assam. The biggest ever Conference-cum-Exhibition  organized in North East India the event scheduled till January 11, 2014 will showcase the prospects and potentials of the region particularly that of Assam with respect to the agriculture and horticulture sector. 

The conference, which is the fourth in its row, has gone International this year with active support and participation of countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Taiwan, Nepal, Italy, China, Indonesia, South Africa, Israel, Canada, UK, Myanmar, Laos, United States of America, Netherlands and more than 70 Indian companies and corporations representing agri-machinery, seeds, fertilizers, financial institutions and various boards of the agriculture sector.

Sectors of specialization for international exhibitors include agriculture and horticulture products like seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and agrochemicals, food and beverage industry, food processing, nutritional management, animal feeds, fruits and vegetables, biotechnology, livestock and storage units. The event will also find the participation of international Chambers of Commerce, the Consulates, High Commissions and overseas Farming and Development Societies informed Mowsam Hazarika, Publicity Coordinator of the exhibition and SDAO(Information) Directorate of Horticulture and Food Processing, Assam.

Eminent dignitaries and personalities of the Government of India, Government of Assam and the Consulates attended the inaugural session of the 4-day conference. The personages included Tarun Gogoi, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Government of Assam; Vinod K Pipersenia, Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Assam; Charan Das Mahant, Hon’ble Minister of State for Agriculture & Food Processing Industries, Government of India; Kanna Lakshmi Narayana, Hon’ble Minister of Agriculture, Government of Andhra Pradesh; Dr Benjong Liba, Hon’ble Minister of Agriculture, Government of Nagaland; Nilamani Sen Deka, Hon’ble Minister of Agriculture, Horticulture & Food Processing & Parliamentary Affairs, Government of Assam; Mr Pankaj Agarwal, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Government of India; Anup Kumar Thakur, Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India; Madhav Lal, Secretary, Ministry of MSME, Government of India; Ardhendu Dey, Hon’ble Minister of Irrigation, Government of Assam; Member Gogoi, Chairman, Assam Agricultural Marketing Board; Mr Jitesh Khosla, Chief Secretary, Government of Assam; H.E. Mr Saw Myint Oo, Hon’ble Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Sagaing Region of Myanmar; H.E. U Myint Than, Hon’ble Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Mandalay Region of Myanmar; H.E. Dr Khamphad Sourinphoumy, Hon’ble Vice Minister, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Government of LAO PDR; M K Saharia, Chairman, ICC NE Initiative and Dr. Rajeev Singh, Director General, Indian Chamber of Commerce.

Chief Guest Tarun Gogoi, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Government of Assam, appreciated the performance and activities of the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Horticulture of Government of Assam for their efforts in developing the sector in the recent years. Speaking on the need and importance of agricultural sector in the country and especially in the state of Assam, he said that development and prosperity of the sector helps in improving the economic condition of the residents and people of the state. He also mentioned about the prospects and opportunities of the state’s sector; there is ample water and irrigation facility in the state, significant amount of land availability and good weather condition conducive for performing multi-cropping and increasing productivity of the crops. Gogoi said that opportunities are galore in the state with respect to the sector and he cordially invited the foreign investors and industrialists for investing in the state across agriculture and horticulture sector. While mentioning about the advantages of the region and that of the state, he said that future of the sector lies with proper implementation of the ‘Look East Policy’ and hoped that the policy will help in increasing trade and commerce with the nearby countries. However, for witnessing the envisaged growth of the sector and the economy, the requirement of skilled employment and large number of educated people in agri-horti sector is called for. In the concluding remarks, he said that the State Government is looking for employment of sustainable development in the sector.

“There is a need to remove the presence of middlemen to reach the desired level of growth and development of the sector. He hoped that there will be more investments and capital deployment in the agriculture and horticulture sector in the state in days to come,” he said.

Speaking of the prospects and development in the agri-horti sector Nilamani Sen Deka, Hon’ble Minister of Agriculture, Horticulture & Food Processing & Parliamentary Affairs, Government of Assam said that the sub-tropical climate of Northeastern India is extremely favorable for the cultivation of several plantation crops. “The state has performed extremely well in the last fiscal and has even reached record production of some of the crops including tea, jute and paddy. The farmers in the state have developed significantly in the last five years, owing to development and mechanization of farm-level practices,” he said. He hoped that with guidance from the Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, the sector will grow more intensively.

Charan Das Mahant, Minister of State for Agriculture & Food Processing Industries, Government of India said that the state of Assam has performed extremely well in the recent past and has in fact performed better than many other states of the country. Owing to some of the favorable weather conditions, availability of rich resources and irrigation facility, the sector has developed significantly. He is optimistic that with proper implementation of Central and State Policies, the sector will foresee multidimensional growth in the future.

Speaking on lines similar to the other speakers M K Saharia, Chairman, Indian Chamber of Commerce, NE Initiative mentioned that with the proper application of policies, the state has not only witnessed significant growth rate in the present fiscal vis-à-vis last fiscal, but also has helped in developing the economic profile of the farmers considerably. He hoped that the growth path of the sector in the state will continue and reach higher summits in the days to follow.

 

Author info

Syed Miraz Ahmed's picture

Writes, edits and researches. In 2013 he was conferred the Rotary International District 3240 Young Achiever Award for his work in the area of environment and digital journalism. In 2006 he was awarded first in the category of Wildlife Photography by the Department of Environment & Forests and Tourism, Government of Assam.

Add new comment

Assamese Translator

Assam Times seeks English to Assamese translators!
Join our volunteer team.
Email editor@assamtimes.org.

Random Stories

Kabindra, Nath file nominations

26 Mar 2014 - 7:02pm | AT News
BJP candidate Kabindra Purkayastha and his AGP counterpart BK Nath filed nomination papers before the returning officer in Silchar on Wednesday.Accompanied by senior party leaders along with hundreds...

Polling underway with brisk note

7 Apr 2014 - 7:04am | AT News
Amid massive security measures 64,10,883 voters are exercising their franchise to decide on the fate 51 candidate in the first phase of Lok Sabha polls in five constituencies on Monday.Heavily...

City bus accident; 10 injured

9 Jul 2015 - 12:19pm | AT News
At least ten people sustained injury when a city bus rammed into an auto rickshaw along with a two wheeler in Guwahati on Thursday. The tragic accident took place at around 11 in the morning at the...

HC summons Bhumidhar Barman

24 Nov 2007 - 4:33pm | editor
The Gauhati High Court has asked senior Congress leader and minister Dr Bhumidhar Barman to appear before the court on December 11 charging him with violating the court order regarding the...

Other Contents by Author

The U.S. Consulate General, Kolkata in collaboration with social enterprise Contact Base, is launching a youth entrepreneurship initiative – Y4BIZ (Youth for Business) in four cities Guwahati, Patna, Ranchi and Kolkata. The program in Guwahati took place in association with the local organization, Startup Assam. The Y4BIZ program aims to support a promising group of 50 young entrepreneurs, and transform their business ideas from the initial stage to a sustainable business model. The 50 entrepreneurs will be selected by a rigorous screening process after the launch events in all four cities. This will be followed by an online capacity building and mentoring program run by the IC2...
The People’s Democratic Council of Karbi-longri (PDCK) Thursday rubbished what it term ed as a “strange” news report aired by News 18 on November 7, 2017 with graphics of photographs and videos on the basis of a police claim. “The news report emphatically asserted that our Home Secretary, Mir-ang Sir-ang was and is directly involved in cases of poaching rhinos in the Kaziranga National Park. The allegation made by the greedy Assam Police personnel and corrupt forest department officials against PDCK and its Home Secretary for killing rhinos is baseless and fabricated. It is an insinuation of the worst kind manufactured out of thin air in order to tarnish the image of this promising...
Investigators from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) returned to India this week to continue the search for remains of U.S. personnel missing since World War II.  Last year, DPAA deployed a team to northeast India for 30 days in search of remains for unaccounted-for U.S. airmen, and this is their fifth mission to India since 2013. There are approximately 400 U.S. airmen missing in India, most of whose remains are believed to be located in the Himalayan Mountains in northeast India.  During World War II, the United States provided supplies to the Chinese Army by flying over the Himalayas, a route known as “The Hump.”  Many of these aircraft went missing and were...
The People's Democratic Council of Karbi-longri (PDCK) an affiliate of the United National Liberation Front of Western South East Asia (UNLFWSEA) Sunday condemned the atrocities committed by what it terms ‘Indian occupation forces’ upon two arrested persons, namely Rau Engleng and Longsing Teron.  “They used electric shocks and beating as a method of torture to extract information and forced them to confess. These practices are gross violations of Article 3 common to the Geneva Convention,” said the outfit.  Stating statutes, PDCK said that occupation forces should recognize the International Humanitarian Law and the Law of Armed Conflict, which protect persons as a target for...
One Planet Academy, a digital portal was launched ​in Guwahati on Wednesday as a part of WWF-India’s initiative in partnership with Capgemini to create awareness ​in the area of environment and ​ ​ educate students and citizens through an interactive ​ interface​. Leveraging the affinity of today’s learners towards technology, the website focuses on various environmental themes and is a digital hub for schools, teachers and students that brings under its ambit a digital training and resource centre. One Planet Academy is the first of its kind digital hub for environment education for schools, teachers, students and citizens. The OPA is designed to be a one stop destination for engaging not...
The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee, Sunday filed an FIR at Bhangagarh Police Station, Guwahati, seeking immediate arrest and prosecution under the Criminal Procedure Code following remarks made by Jorhat Lok Sabha Constituency MP, Kamakhya Prasad Tassa on Saturday in a meeting held at Sonari in Charaideu District. Tassa described Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi as 'garbage' in the presence of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. 
The final round of the 10th International Edition of the Wild Wisdom Quiz, organised by WWF-India and Discovery Kids in association with Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), was held at WWF-India, New Delhi on October 6, 2017.The event saw participation from 28 city level winners across the country and 2 winners from Nepal.Wild Wisdom Quiz has grown in strength over the last decade and has reached beyond the country, with Nepal running its first edition of the quiz in 2017. In India, the Wild Wisdom Quiz is being run across 817 schools in 14 cities with participation from approximately 50,000 students. Run in the format of a competition, the quiz is a fun way to help children learn...
Organized by Abiogenesis Society with sponsorship from North East Council, Ministry of DoNER, Shillong; Artist Aloud as Digital Promotion Partner, Asian News International (ANI) for international news coverage and Doordarshan Kohima Kendra for live telecast, the festival aims to showcase music made by indigenous social groups of the region.The main event on October 7, will see a very strong line up at IMC Hall, Dimapur from 5:30 pm featuring eight renowned artistes and bands.They are: Summersalt – a folk fusion band from Meghalaya who has been featured in the Bollywood film Rock On 2, Jambili – a folk fusion band from Assam, Imphal Talkies – a six member folk rock band from...
​​A land without ruins is a land without memories – a land without memories is a land without history: so wrote Reverend Abram Joseph Ryan, an American poet, popularly known as the Poet – Priest of the South and also as the Poet-Laureate of the Confederacy. Ruins are not alone physical remains of a building or a structure, but embodiment of memories. The past is deeply entrenched in them. Even in a stage of dilapidation, besides the stories of glory and loss, they also weave narratives of a sense of being part of that past which stand right there to be touched and felt. The historical monuments of the pre-colonial Dimasa state today lie in a state of ruins across vast geographical areas...
The proscribed United Liberation Front of Asom [ULFA-Independent] expresses delight in the arrival of the under seventeen Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup soccer matches in homeland Assam. “I, on behalf of my organisation, thank FIFA for bringing International Football to this remote part of the world and a warm welcome to the FIFA officials and players of different nations to Assam,” states Abhizeet Asom, the elusive Chairman of the outfit.He believes that the people of Assam will immensely benefit by the experience, learning about international standards in football by witnessing the ways and manners of the teenage players from different countries and...