ITANAGAR, Jan 4: Deputy Chief Minsiter Chowna Mein has asked the department heads to chart a road map for developing the Agriculture and Horticulture departments.
He said this during a review meeting on implementation of schemes of the two departments on Thursday.
While terming agriculture and allied sectors as the backbone for the development of the state, Mein said that these sectors would increase the GDP of the state.
Mein called for a focus on higher agriculture and horticultural productivity through the use of the latest and innovative technology to help double farmers’ income by 2022.
He emphasised for use of modern tools like Space and Geographical Information technology for precise micro level planning in agriculture and allied sectors and asked the departments to submit the proposals.
The deputy chief minister said that the opium growers of the state must be given best alternate crops so that they could be weaned away from growing poppy and provided better livelihood options.
He requested the department of horticulture to expedite the opium alternative project implementation and meticulously plan out what kind of crops could be given to farmers based on suitability of the climates.
The DCM also emphasised on the development of rich bio-resources of the state and suggested for the creation of a department dedicated to bioresource development.
The meeting was attended by Secretary Agriculture YW Ringu, Secretary Horticulture Mimum Tayeng, Advisor Budget P Aich and Deputy Secretary Budget Ikar Dirchi, among others.
