Department of Information and Public Relations

Press Release No. 709/18

FIRST EVER MUSHROOM FESTIVAL HELD

The first ever Mushroom Festival of the State themed ‘Mushroom Cultivation for Income Generation’ was held here today at All Saints’ Hall which was graced by Minister, Agriculture & Horticulture etc Banteidor Lyngdoh as the Chief Guest. Speaking during the Inaugural Function, Minister, Banteidor Lyngdoh, said that the Government of Meghalaya envisages that the implementation of the Meghalaya Mushroom Mission aims to scale up mushroom production in a mission mode to exploit the full potential of the sector and bring about economic prosperity and livelihood security to the mushroom farming community of the State. He added that due to its high value and low characteristic, availability of a growing local market and its potential for export the Mushroom Mission would expand the cultivation of Mushroom in the State adding that the target to be achieved under the mission will increase the production from the present 27 MT to 5000 MT within 5 years. The Minister further urged the mushroom farmers to participate keenly in the workshop to upscale their knowledge and skill in Mushroom Cultivation. Earlier, Additional Chief Secretary and Agriculture Production Commissioner, K N Kumar informed that with just about 15 per cent of the geographical area under cultivation growing mushrooms and marketing them is a lucrative option available to the people. He informed that the aim of having the festival is to create awareness about mushroom cultivation as an alternate income generating activity as well as an activity that can be integrated into the farm business to enhance farm income. He further added that mushroom cultivation has the potential to address the nutritional concerns of the State in terms of protein and vitamin deficiencies. He also stated that the cultivation of mushroom is environmentally sustainable that requires small land mass and the cultivation and production does not require intensive labour therefore making it suitable farming activity for the womenfolk that can be taken up during the lean season also when temperatures are suitable for mushroom cultivation. The Minister also released the Meghalaya Draft Mushroom Mission during the occasion. The draft mission document will be available in the website of the Department of Agriculture for the public for a month to give their suggestions and feedback before the Meghalaya Mushroom Mission is launched in December. The main objectives of the Mission is to scale up mushroom production in the State through a cluster approach, to diversify the dietary patterns of the State so that nutrition and health of the citizens is improved, to focus on the value addition of mushroom and mushroom products for improved economic gain, once sufficient volumes are generated, to create adequate infrastructure and upgrade the existing production centres for provision of various services to the farmers and to build the skill base and the capacities of potential farmers through capacity building programme. The Mission will focus mainly on the production of Oyster Mushroom, Button Mushroom and Shiitake Mushroom. The mission will cost 50 crore for a period of 5 years. The funds for the Mission will be sourced from a number of funding agencies viz. Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture, Government of India, Megh-LAMP and the German Development Bank KfW. The mission will cover 136 villages in mushroom cultivation in all the districts of the State. Among others present during the Inaugural Function were M N Nampui, IAS, Secretary Agriculture who delivered the Welcome Address, B Mawlong, Joint Secretary, Agriculture and Dr R K Tombisana Devi from College of Post Graduate Studies, Umiam.

Press Release No. 710/18

3RD NATIONAL AYURVEDA DAY 2018

The 3rd National Ayurveda Day 2018 on the theme: “Ayurveda for Public Health” was organised today by the Directorate of AYUSH, Government of Meghalaya at Asian Confluence, Laitumkhrah, Shillong. Shri A. L. Hek, Health & Family Welfare Minister graced the occasion as the Chief Guest and Shri Anil Jauhri, CEO, National Board for Accreditation for Certification Bodies (NABCB) as Guest of Honour. The programme was also attended by Shri Pravin Bakshi, Secretary, Health and Family Welfare cum Director of AYUSH, Dr. T. S. Nongkhaw, Director Health Services, MI, Dr. D.K. Raswai, State Nodal Officer of AYUSH, Dr. S. Pala, Ayurvedic Physician, Shillong Civil Hospital, Shillong among others. In his inaugural address, Shri Hek informed the gathering on the importance and benefits of ayurveda in our day to day life. In order to promote and strengthen the traditional system of healing in the State, there is a need to bring the traditional healers under the organized sector, he added. The programme was followed by a series of sessions wherein topics namely “Quality Council of India” support to Traditional Healers, “Ayurvedic approaches to cure human disease”, “Potential of herbs in the management of type 2 diabetes Mellitus” and “Ayurveda for public health & Preventive approaches” were presented by Dr. Debjani Roy, Advisor, Quality Council of India, Dr. B.P. Sarma, Prof. & HOD of Kayachikitsa, Government Ayurvedic College, Guwahati and Dr. Shantanu Kr. Sanjay, Medical Officer (AYUR), under Health and Family Welfare Department, Government of Assam respectively.

Press Release No. 711/18

APPLICATIONS INVITED

The Sub-Divisional Officer (Supply), Sohra Civil Sub-Division, Sohra invites fresh applications from interested persons/Cooperative Societies, NGOs and SHGs for appointment as Govt’s Nominee/Wholesale dealership in PDS for the year 2019 for approved Wholesale centres namely Mawkdok (2 nos. of Govt. Nominee), Lad Sohbar (1 no. of Govt. Nominee), Laitryngew (1 no. of Govt. Nominee), Shella (2 nos. of Govt. Nominee) and Sohra (3 nos. of Govt. Nominee). Interested person are to apply in the prescribed format of Form-I of the Meghalaya Food Grains (PDS) Control Order, 2004, which may be collected from the Office of the Sub-Divisional Officer (Supply), Sohra Civil Sub-Division, Sohra during working hours on all working days. The last date for submission of Applications is on or before the 16th November, 2018.