Horticulture Dept gears up for mega expo
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, June 06 2015 :
For the first time, a three-day National Horticulture Expo cum Workshop would be held at Imphal from June 11 under the aegis of the State Horticulture Mission, Department of Horticulture.
This was announced by Deputy Chief Minister Gai-khangam who is also in char- ge of Horticulture and Soil Conservation Department during a press meet today.
The expo cum workshop which would be attended by delegates from Myanmar would give a major fillip to the State's horticulture sector, he asserted.
The workshop which would be participated by many scientists, experts and resource persons is aimed at taking the State's horticulture sector to a new direction in view of the State's limited arable land.
Altogether 31 stalls of different firms based outside Manipur, 19 stalls of the State, 10 nursery pavilions and five farm machinery stalls would be opened at the expo.
Moreover, SBI, EXIM and NABARD would also open their stalls.
Central Agricultural University, Imphal and ICAR would also take part in the expo cum workshop which would be held at Hapta Kangjeibung, Palace Compound.
Responding to a query, Gaikhangam informed that his department has started providing orange saplings to farmers after preparing tissue culture from Tamenglong oranges at the nurseries developed at Thangal and Khongjarol.
With this, productivity of Tamenglong oranges is expected to rise substantially in the coming years, he claimed.
Even though Manipur has been producing many horticulture products abundantly, farmers have been facing a chronic problem because of lack of marketing facilities and this problem is compounded by absence of cold storage facilities.
Regarding removal of special category status from all the Northeastern States, New Delhi has convened a joint meeting and it is likely to be held soon but no one is sure about its possible outcome, Gaikhangam stated.
Although the Central Government has re-christened Look East Policy as Act East Policy, the same policy may turn out be 'Kill East Policy' as all the additional assistances given to the North East region have been cancelled, added the Deputy Chief Minister.