Aizawl, Sep 23 (PTI) Mizoram Agriculture Minister PC Vanlalruata on Monday said the state government is prioritising creation of markets for crops produced by local farmers under the newly launched ‘Handholding’ policy.
The government is making relentless efforts to establish four wholesale markets in Aizawl for selling cash crops, vegetables and other agricultural produce, he said.
Addressing a party function at the Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) office here, he said the main objective of the policy is to bring sustainable development to the state.
“Our top priority under the ‘Handholding’ policy is to create markets for crops produced by local farmers. Although successive governments neglected the matter, the current ZPM government gives top priority to it and we are making efforts to implement it,” Vanlalruata said.
Farmers will now cultivate crops with the knowledge of minimum prices at which they will sell their products after harvest, he said.
The state agricultural department has so far received Rs 10 crore for setting up two wholesale markets and land plots are being identified at Sihphir and Melthum areas near Aizawl for setting up wholesale markets, the minister said.
Vanlalruata said the government would also take steps to construct agricultural link roads across Mizoram.
He expressed hope that many families might become economically self-dependent and Mizoram would get a new image in terms of development in the next 10 years.
The ‘Bana Kaih’ or ‘Handholding’ policy was launched by Chief Minister Lalduhoma on September 19 to provide financial assistance and support to entrepreneurs and farmers across the state through a series of targeted programmes designed to promote economic growth and self-sufficiency.
The programme will be implemented by converging it with various schemes and initiatives of the central government, officials said.
The state government has allocated Rs 200 crore for the implementation of the ‘Handholding’ policy for the 2024-25 fiscal, apart from Rs 110 crore corpus fund allocated for agricultural assurance in the 2023-24 financial year, they said.
This ‘Handholding’ scheme outlines the strategies designed by the state government to achieve the status of a developed state by 2047.
It seeks to empower the citizens by providing them the required financial, technical, infrastructural and institutional support.
The policy will be implemented to empower different sectors, which includes uplifting farmers through the purchase of local agriculture or horticulture produce, food processing, marketing of agriculture and allied products, promotion of entrepreneurship and skill development.
Horticulture, fisheries, veterinary and animal husbandry and sericulture activities, which serve as crucial means of livelihood for many in the state, will receive renewed attention under the ‘Handholding’ policy’.
Under this scheme, the government will provide financial support and offer loans up to Rs 50 lakh to progress partners (beneficiaries) through partner banks. PTI CORR BDC
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