Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on September 10 launched India’s largest piggery project, estimated at Rs 200 crore, that would benefit close to 25,000 households and make the state self-sufficient in pork production.
The project was launched at National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) headquarters in New Delhi and is funded by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MAF) and NCDC. Union Minister of State (MoS) for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Kailash Choudhury and Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong were also present on the occasion.
“The piggery mission would make the state self-sufficient in pork production and would also go a long way in making Meghalaya aatmanirbhar,” Sangma said.
As part of the first instalment of the project, a cheque of Rs 52.36 crore was handed to the chief minister by Choudhury.
“The Meghalaya State Piggery Mission, supported by the NCDC, will enable our state to achieve self-sufficiency in pork production, reduce our import burden by nearly Rs 150 crore annually and improve the incomes of over 25,000 households, totalling to an annual increment of Rs 70 crore across the state,” the chief minister added.
Sangma said under the piggery mission, farmers would be provided interest-free loans. The interest for the loan will be paid by the state government to encourage farmers to avail the loan, the chief minister said.
He informed that through convergence with MGNREGA, the programme will be implemented in the state to extend the benefit of the project in the villages.
Sangma also spoke about the state’s diverse agro-climatic zones that encourage growth of a range of high-value agriculture products such as lakadong turmeric, honey, oranges, strawberries and mushrooms.
“The government has already undertaken various initiatives to improve production, productivity and marketing of our agriculture produce,” he said adding, that the vision is to take Meghalaya among top 10 Indian states in terms of Per Capita Income by 2030.
