Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna said that Organic Zone and Food Testing Laboratories would be established for food security in the state. He said that work would also be taken up in the direction of power generation though waste vegetable and fruits.
Chief Minister Bahuguna in the meeting with representatives of National Institute of Agriculture Management at Secretariat on Wednesday said that lot of potential was available in agriculture and horticulture sectors in the state. The representatives of NIAM through the presentation explained how the agricultural and horticultural potentials present in the state could be exploited. Chief Minister Bahuguna said that the state government had set up Agriculture Marketing Board to encourage agriculture and horticulture. He said that State Government was planning to set up Terminal Market in Rudrapur.
Mr. Bahuguna directed the Principal Secretary Agriculture to prepare action plan for setting up Organic Zone. He said that looking into the Central Government's plan to introduce Food Security Bill in the Parliament; the State Government was planning to set up Food Testing Laboratories in the state. Mr. Bahuguna instructed the officers concerned to prepare plan to establish Foodgrains godowns at Nyaya Panchayat levels to meet their shortage and for which financial assistance could be obtained from NABARD also. He asked the officers to think about the projects to generate power through waste vegetables and fruits by taking advice from experts. Mr. Bahuguna rued that though Malta was produced in large number in the state; owing to lack of marketing facilities the farmers were not able to avail of maximum benefits. He directed the officers to look for the possibilities of setting up Plants for sub-produces of Malta and prepare action plan for the same.
Dr. JS Yadav from NIAM, through his presentation, suggested the means to generate employment opportunities in Agriculture and Horticulture sectors and how revenue could be generated for the state. Chief Minister appreciated the suggestions made by Dr. Yadav. Also present on the occasion were Principal Secretary to Chief Minister DK Kotia, Principal Secretary Agriculture Om Prakash, Additional Secretary Agriculture Nidhi Pandey and other senior officers.
