Nagaland CM calls for use of modern farming methods to achieve self-sufficiency in food grains

Kohima: Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Saturday stressed on the need for amalgamation of the traditional method of farming with technology and scientific research for self-sufficiency in food grains and economic viability.

There is a need for bringing in modern farming to enhance productivity, he said.

Rio was speaking at the inaugural function of the two-day Millet Festival commemorating the culmination of the International Year of Millets organised by the Department of Agriculture coinciding with the Hornbill Festival of Nagaland at Kisama here.

Climate change along with unpredictable seasons and rainfall have badly affected the farmers of the state, he said.

Cultivation of millet in the northeast has been targeted, realising that most of the states of the region get rice and spices from other parts of the country as the region does not produce sufficient quantities of food grains, Rio said.

“Our indigenous farming is of diminishing return and therefore knowledgeable people with graduate or diploma in agriculture should come forward to take up progressive farming, including horticulture and veterinary," the chief minister said.

Congratulating the traditional millet farmers for receiving the awards for producing substantial quantities of millet, Rio asked officials to purchase good quality seeds.

“As we culminate the International Year of Millets, let us make a good beginning and spread out the cultivation of millet with good seeds,” he said.

Advisor for Agriculture and MLA Mhathung Yanthan said that the GI registration process for four known varieties of millets in Nagaland has been initiated.

Millet gradually found its place in Nagaland, and from around 12,000 hectares, the cultivation has expanded to 19,000 hectares and it will continue to grow, he said.

The demand for millets in urban markets has increased manifold because of its nutritional value, he added.