Agriculture Minister Pijush Hazarika reviews agricultural and irrigation projects in Cachar and Hailakandi, calls for crop diversification and expedited farmer registration : Key focus on expanding Oil Palm, pineapple FPCs, Makhana farming in wetlands, and solar water pump distribution across Barak Valley: Minister Hazarika.
Dalim Phukan, Hills Live News,Guwahati, October 29: Minister for Agriculture, Irrigation, and Parliamentary Affairs Pijush Hazarika today undertook an extensive field visit across Lakhipur LAC in Cachar district, inspecting key agricultural and irrigation initiatives before chairing a comprehensive review meeting at the Cachar DC Office conference hall in Silchar.
During his field visit, Minister Hazarika inspected the Oil Palm cultivation at Dewan Tea Garden, reiterating the State Cabinet’s approval for tea gardens to utilize up to 5 percent of their land for crop diversification into palm oil production.
He also visited pineapple farms in Hmarkulin, interacting with the pineapple growers’ Farmer Producer Company (FPC).
Addressing their needs, the Minister assured the distribution of horticulture kits, planting materials, a rest house, a refrigerator, and efforts to facilitate cold storage transportation for overseas exports. He announced that starting next year, 5 to 6 lakh fruit and horticulture saplings—including dragon fruit, litchi, coconut, and areca nut—will be distributed annually in every LAC.
Additionally, he inspected the functional status of Lift Irrigation Schemes at Chapormaina and Siripur Part 1, emphasizing the expansion of such feasible models.
Chairing the review meeting with the Agriculture and Irrigation departments at Silchar, Minister Hazarika expressed concern over the low pace of farmer registration and directed officials to expedite the process immediately. He instructed the district administration to work in close coordination with the Director of Land Records to resolve land mutation issues for poor farmers.
To boost rural income in the Barak Valley, the Minister instructed the Agriculture Department to vigorously promote Makhana farming in local wetlands, encourage Agar-wood plantation, and promote Oil Palm cultivation. He directed the formation of at least 42 FPCs in every district and announced that solar water pumps would be provided to small-holder farmers.
On irrigation infrastructure, Minister Hazarika issued strict directives against inflating the budget of lift and smaller irrigation schemes beyond Rs 2.5 lakh and mandated that local MLAs must be informed during the formulation of irrigation project lists.
Following his engagements in Cachar, Minister Hazarika traveled to Hailakandi district, where he visited the tea blending unit at SS College and took stock of the various processes involved in value addition of tea.
Later, he chaired a district review meeting at the Hailakandi DC Office conference hall to assess the status of Oil Palm cultivation, the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF), Makhana, and mushroom cultivation. During the meeting, the Minister ordered to issue show cause notice to 5 Agriculture Development Officers (ADOs) for their negligence in visiting fields for which farmer registration work has stalled in the district. He said no such lackadaisical attitude would be tolerated in discharging duties.
Minister Kaushik Rai, MLAs Dr Rsjdeep Roy, Kamalakhya Deb Purkayastha, Kishore Nath accompanied the minister during his Cachar visit while MLAs Milan Das and Bijoy Malakar were present during Hailakandi visit.