Meghalaya farmers asked to go for additional job

SHILLONG, May 22 (Agencies): Meghalaya Agriculture Minister E C B Bamon today asked farmers to look into additional income generating activities as the state cannot utilise a vast area for agriculture due to topographical problems.

There was a tremendous scope for the farmers to earn money from livestock rearing, pisiculture and eco-tourism, Bamon said at a review meeting of the Department of Land Resources under the Ministry of Rural Development.

"Due to undulating topography, maximum area of the land could not be utilized for agricultural purposes.

The irrigated area is only 15 per cent and the majority of the cultivable land is under rainfed condition", he said.

As the state is facing with land degradation due to steep slopes, faulty cultivation, deforestation and high intensity rainfall, the minister urged planners and scientists to find out ways and means so that the farmers could go for higher yield per unit area and double cropping, besides making available to the farmers improved seeds and fertilizers.

State Secretary Ranjan Chatterjee said Meghalaya's basic life supporting systems like land, water and vegetation have been facing intense pressure due to natural and human induced factors.

The ecological system of the region has rendered fragile and precariously balanced because of unsustainable agricultural practices, faulty land use, removal of soil cover, extraction of underground depositors besides poverty and under development, Chatterjee said.