It has assumed a leading role in agricultural research and development in the North Eastern Hill Region. Seven composite maize varieties resistant/tolerant to cob borer in the region are in the pipeline.
PREAMBLE
The soil is rich in organic matter, but the soil in the region is acidic to highly acidic in reaction. The institute's headquarters are located in Meghalaya (Barapani), while its regional centers are located in Basar (Arunachal Pradesh), Imphal (Manipur), Kolasib (Mizoram), Jharnapani (Nagaland), Lembucherra (Tripura) and Gangtok (Sikkim).
ICAR RESEARCH COMPLEX FOR NEH REGION
In addition to the office and laboratory buildings, staff quarters have also been built, in which approximately 35% of the staff can stay. The center has almost all the equipment commensurate with the power of the scientists.
SCENARIO
It can be seen from Table 2 that the production and productivity of major food grains in the region registered a growth of 3.28 and 9.89%. Considering that only 17.73% of the reported area is sown in the region, there is scope to increase the area under cultivation and thus food production. Projection study of production and requirement of foodgrains in the coming decades in northeastern states was carried out to estimate the demand-supply gap of foodgrains.
The need for food grains was estimated by multiplying the recommended amount of food grains per population with the population base at that time (eg etc.). Land Tenure System - Lack of sense of belonging to the land due to absent land ownership as well as allocation of land for cultivation on time scale basis. Market limitations - Most places in the region do not have a proper market to dispose of the produce.
If agriculture in the region does not become profitable, the agrarian economy will be destroyed, increasing rural poverty. The overall agricultural growth in the country has been showing a steady decline since the 1980s and growth in the XI Five Year Plan was below 4. The decline in growth is basically due to fatigue in the green revolution belt which has reached a production plateau.
HARNESSING SCIENCE
Salient Research Achievements
A package of practices was developed for the organic production of peanuts, beans, tomatoes, rice and maize. A package of practices for System of Rice Intensification (SRI) and Integrated Crop Management (ICM) for rice was developed and demonstrated in the farmers' field. A medium-altitude double cropping technology involving pre-kharif rice and its ratoon has been standardized.
Conservation agriculture approaches for rice and maize-based cropping systems involving minimum tillage, zero tillage and residue management have been developed. SRI and ICM methods of rice cultivation were introduced in Dhalai (Tripura) and South Garo Hills (Meghalaya). More than 8,000 ha of fallow land areas for lowland rice have been brought under zero tillage in Manipur.
More than 200 hectares of paddy area has been brought under SRI and ICM in Dhalai (Tripura) and South Garo Hills (Meghalaya). A Rapid Soil Health Testing Kit (RSHTK) has been developed, specifically for the agricultural community and other user groups. Protocols for the preparation of edible fruits from chow-chow have been developed and a patent has been filed.
Impact Assessment
After observing these positive features of the system, farmers have started adopting the models to benefit from these systems. The gradual process of converting the contour bottoms into terraces over a period of 3-4 years achieved under the systems. After observing these positive features of the system, farmers have started adopting the model to benefit from the systems.
The developed guava varieties (RCG-11, RCGH-1, RCGH-4, RCGH-7) and peach varieties (Shan-e-Punjab, TA-170, Florodasun) developed by the institute have had a positive effect in increasing production and fruit productivity at a few locations in Meghalaya. Due to the successful rearing and production of fingerlings and the demonstration of the economic benefit of aquaculture, both in the context of an integrated culture system and a pond, farmers in the region have been attracted to aquaculture especially for access to fish. The benefit-cost ratios found in multi-site trials of watershed-based farming systems such as dairy farming, agro-pasture and agri-horti-silvi pasture systems were 1.4:1, respectively.
The Department of Animal Health has performed work related to three key areas of the Institute's mandate. A brief impact of the division's services is shown for the period 2001-2009. A land tenure system resulting in poor soil health management is another problem that needs to be addressed through the involvement of state governments.
ICAR-RC-NEH 2030
Due to difficult terrain and inaccessible locations, the population of the region has less access to technology. ICAR is conducting horticulture research in the region through NEH Research Complex, Barapani (Meghalaya); National Orchid Research Centre, Gangtok (Sikkim); Central Potato Research Station, Upper Shillong (Meghalaya); Central Plantation Crops Research Institute Regional Station, Kahikuchi (Assam), Central Agricultural University, Imphal (Manipur). Plantation crops: Coconut, arecanut, black pepper, large cardamom and cinnamon have great potential in the region.
Current productivity of vegetable crops in the region is 16.03 t/ha against the all India average of 16.75 t/ha, i.e., however, the productivity of turmeric in the region is only 1.5 t against 3.9 t/ha in the country. Milk production increased at a slower rate in the region (1.62%) than at national level (4.27%).
Therefore, the commercialization of agricultural tools and machinery suitable for the region should be addressed. Many of the region's indigenous fish species are also considered ornamental fish in global ornamental fish markets. The major species contributing to the total fish production in the region are those of the large Indian carp and exotic carp varieties.
STRATEGIES AND FRAMEWORK
Training and introduction of the concept of Jalkund (water storage structure), drip irrigation and other water harvesting devices for life saving irrigation. Short and long-term research projects for technology development of local and indigenous fruits and vegetables. Therefore, it is essential to continue the research activities on improving soil acidity and improving soil health in tandem.
Neutralize the acidic soil at a rate of 33% of the cultivated area per year with a total lime requirement of 0.67 million tonnes. This strategy should contribute to double productivity/hectare at a rate of 1.33 million hectares of area/year, and within the third year of operation, the capacity of the entire area of 4.0 million hectares of the hall should be improved. Clearly, soil health assessment has been a missing component in the "climate change-soil health-crop productivity continuum".
For the development of soil quality indices as a tool for quantification, the following steps need to be addressed. The vision is to build the capacity of the existing research institutions so that appropriate phytoremediation technologies can be developed to reclaim contaminated soil in the region. Due to the remoteness of the state and inadequate transportation facilities, transportation of fertile eggs or day-old chicks from distant places is very expensive.
PROGRAMMES AND PROJECTS
Besides the development of suitable technologies for weed management, the preparation of bio-extracts from weed plants as growth promoters and disease/pest control agents will be the main objective. Identifying the bamboo resources of the region, raising the satum of bamboo and developing technologies for the preparation of bamboo products. The region being home to about 7000 species of agricultural crops and a host of medicinal and aromatic plants, the research analysis and especially the latest will be carried out during the XI period and subsequent plan.
Research will be conducted on the extent of diversification into high-value crops depending on the strength of agro-ecosystems and potential systems will be demonstrated. Along with research on the development of farming system models as an alternative to shifting cultivation, a concurrent program of system improvement through the development of suitable varieties and packages specific to changing cultivation areas will be undertaken. The capacity of the institute will be built in terms of infrastructure, equipment and HRD to work in this emerging field as the technology is currently being tested in medicine and other fields.
Eleven KVKs attached to the institute will be used to demonstrate technological support to increase food production by adopting five villages under each KVK. Technological package for agri-horti-livestock-fish crops to facilitate increased productivity to not only bridge the current shortage gap but also to produce marketable surplus must be one of the key outputs. The expected situation will be a shift from mono- to multi-crop, technology-cloud to technology-relevant agricultural society, small-scale household production systems to semi-commercial/commercial farming system, information-hungry to information-rich farmer groups, organic by "standard" to organic by "process", degradation of natural resources for conservation of natural resources and the resulting use in a system mode, conventional to advanced agricultural method using molecular tools, insufficient inputs (seeds/. plant material/fertilizer) to sufficient inputs production units, local hut (market) oriented extension dissemination to market-led expansion etc. Another situation must be the location of the region on an organic map of the country/world, thereby paving the way for an evergreen revolution.
EPILOGUE
Development and delivery of back-up for organic packs, implementation of appropriate crop sequence for different ecosystems, information on crop diversification options, resource conservation technologies, climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, analysis, conservation and use of resources by means of complementarity between crop, animal and fish, development of a base of skilled labor to handle the processing and value chain activities, in addition to developing postgraduate studies in the field of agriculture and related sectors, the identification and characterization of biological resources for IPR issues, the introduction of agricultural mechanization, improving variable cultivation practices etc.
