Introduction
The agro-climatic zones of Meghalaya facilitate production of a large number of diverse fruits and vegetables. Most of our agricultural commodities are amenable for further processing into various intermediary and finished products that can fetch better value to the farmers and processors. The present institutional mechanism for value addition is barely adequate. The full potential of the sector therefore, goes abegging.
Based on the 2015-16 data, the net sown area of Meghalaya is 3,43,431 ha which is just 15.27% of the total geographical area. There are at least four major crops that are grown in about 10000 ha each, in our state, namely: – Potato, Mandarin Orange, Pineapple, and Ginger. There is also an exclusive niche market for Lakadong Turmeric.
This is where the proposal for creating the Directorate of Food Processing came into being and the Government of Meghalaya had created a new Directorate of Food Processing under the Department of Agriculture in May 2018.
