Shillong : The Meghalaya government is planning to strengthen agricultural infrastructure by setting up more cold storage facilities and agro-processing units to protect farmers from volatile market prices and improve their earnings, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Timothy D. Shira said on Thursday.
The Minister said frequent fluctuations in the prices of agricultural produce have become a major challenge for farmers, making it necessary for the government to adopt long-term solutions rather than temporary measures.
“Temporarily, the price of agricultural products may come down and then all of a sudden it goes up again. So an up-and-down situation is very common. However, in order to address this, we have to think of other policies so that in the future farmers will not face this kind of situation,” Shira said.
Shira ruled out introducing a blanket Minimum Support Price (MSP) or support price for all crops, stating that such a policy would place a significant financial burden on the state government.
Instead, he said the government will focus on creating infrastructure that allows farmers to store produce when market prices are low and sell it later at better rates.
“It may not be possible for the government because if the government gives support price for everything, it will be a huge expense. One alternative is the construction of cold storages. When vegetable prices are very low, farmers can store their produce and sell it when prices improve,” he said.
The Minister also stressed the need to reduce farmers’ dependence on middlemen by expanding farmer-managed processing facilities across the state.
Citing turmeric as an example, Shira said the establishment of spice processing units in Bhoirymbong and Jaintia Hills has already helped farmers secure better prices for their produce.
“To eliminate these middlemen, we need cold storages and more processing units. With the spice processing units in Bhoirymbong and Jaintia Hills, the price of turmeric has increased,” he said.
According to the Minister, cooperative societies operating these processing units now purchase produce directly from farmers, enabling them to receive fair and remunerative prices without the involvement of intermediaries.
“There is no need for middlemen to dictate prices. The cooperative societies managing these processing units fix better prices, and farmers are directly bringing their produce to these centres,” he added.
Shira said the Agriculture Department will assess the demand for cold storage and processing infrastructure across different districts before establishing additional facilities. The initiative is aimed at reducing post-harvest losses, strengthening value addition, and ensuring more stable incomes for farmers across Meghalaya.