Nagaland principal secretary of Horticulture, MK Mero, on Friday said that increasing commercialization of horticulture, it has become crucial that farming activities in the State were linked to market.
Mero said this while addressing the sellers and exhibitors from Nagaland and other north-eastern states and buyers from Mumbai, Delhi, Nagpur and Guwahati at the ‘Exhibition-cum buyers and sellers meet’ at Central Institute of Horticulture (CIH) at Medziphema in Dimapur on Friday.
He observed that horticulture had undergone a sea change over the years – from being limited to gardening years ago, it now had various branches.
He further advocated that channels for marketing horticultural products should be developed so that farmers can get real value of their labour.
Prospective sellers from the Northeast displayed their wares and agriculture produce in 27 stalls that were set up at CIH.
The main draws of the stalls were the indigenous fruits that were grown locally and processed food from the region.
Mero further called upon unemployed youth in the State to take up farming as an avenue to generate income, citing that job creation had reached a saturation point in most states.
Referring to the organic market at the supermarket in Dimapur inaugurated on September 4 last, the principal secretary suggested setting up a wholesale market for local farmers in Nagaland’s commercial town from where export of local produce to the domestic and international markets could be facilitated.