The COVID-19 Horticulture Special Drive team led by Commissioner & Secretary, Horticulture, Anenla Sato, IAS, held a meeting with officials of District Horticulture Office Dimapur, at State Horticulture Nursery, Green Park Dimapur on 8th May 2020.
Commissioner & Secretary in her keynote address said that the COVID-19 Horticulture Special Drive mission is to work to make the state self-sufficient in Horticulture products. Stating that the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to push additional 130 million people to the brink of starvation by the end of year 2020 in addition to the present 135 million people facing hunger globally, Sato, called all the district officials to carry the message of grow more, produce more and earn more and further educate the farmers the Standard Operating Procedure to be followed in Horticultural fields for vegetables, fruits, flowers, spices and plantation crops in the wake of COVID-19. She further encouraged the officers to put in practice their technical know-how knowledge not only in educating the farmers but put in practice by themselves saying that the state is blessed with natural resources and favourable climatic condition suitable for any type of crop where we can produce enough to sustain ourselves instead of depending on outside supplies of food.
Joint Director, Horticulture, Jerry Patton while giving the Technical Input maintained that the aim of the team is to carry the message of the alarming situation due to COVID-19 pandemic which is affecting the crop cultivation and food supply chain. He said that the Database of fruits, vegetables and spices growers is being created to map the growers to know the present strength and to establish network of market linkages for surplus produces for efficiently and timely distribution. Terming COVID-19 pandemic a wakeup call, he also stressed on self-sufficiency and called to identify the variety of crops suitable for the climate so that the farmers can be edict accordingly.
Deputy Director Horticulture, Dr. Moa Walling while also giving the technical input suggested to revisit multilayer cropping which was successfully practised by the forefathers and also to give thought on merging technical knowledge with the practice of the forefathers which might give better results. He also urged the officials to practice giving seeds and saplings as gifts rather than buying gifts from different shops to encourage the people to grow more. Deputy Director, Mesetuonuo, also shared her experiences.
The meeting was chaired by District Horticulture Officer, Dimapur, Temsu Longkumer while Horticulture Officer, Dimapur, Aoimrong proposed the vote of thanks. The District officials will be distributing the Standard Operating Procedure on Horticultural fields and Grow More! Produce More! Earn More! leaflets to all the farmers in the district besides collection of the Database.
(Watimenla, IA Dimapur)
