Centre, state to work in tandem for agri exports
Pineapple Festival: Union minister stresses private role to boost export; state proposes airlifting of agri products
New Delhi, Aug 1: The Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Rural Development, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, said on Friday that the Centre would work in collaboration with the Meghalaya government for exporting agricultural products outside the state and abroad.
Speaking at the Meghalaya Pineapple Festival-2025 in the Capital, Chouhan said the private sector can play a key role in exports. “It’s heartening to see that the state government is giving thrust into it via MoUs,” he added.
The minister informed that he would soon visit Meghalaya with a team of scientists. He said that when he visited the state during the ‘Vikasit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan’, farmers had highlighted several problems and challenges related to agriculture.
Farmers had demanded appropriate solutions for increasing the shelf life of agricultural products. In this regard, necessary instructions have been given to the scientists of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.
The state government has submitted a proposal to airlift agricultural products. The option of transporting these products via train will also be worked upon. Efforts will also be made to increase the production of pineapple per hectare. A requisite road map for the development of agriculture in Meghalaya will be prepared in collaboration with the state government, the minister informed.
The event started with the exchange of various MoUs on pineapple. Thereafter, the Union Minister released a booklet on ‘Meghalaya’s progress in agriculture sector’.
