Guwahati, 22 June (HS): Assam Agriculture Minister Pijush Hazarika on Monday held a comprehensive virtual review meeting with Deputy Commissioners and District Agriculture Officers of various districts from his office at Janata Bhawan to assess the progress of several key programmes being implemented under the Agriculture Department.

The meeting reviewed the status of digitisation of beneficiaries under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), creation of Farmer Registry (FR) IDs, paddy procurement under the Minimum Support Price (MSP) system through Agri Stack, registration of small tea growers and farmers cultivating on private land, village-level hierarchy mapping, district-wise farmer identity card generation, and the implementation of the National Mission on Edible Oils–Oil Palm (NMEO-OP).

Emphasising the need to accelerate farmer registration across the state, Hazarika said nearly 50 lakh farmer families need to be brought under the registration process, while more than two crore people in Assam depend on agriculture and allied activities. He directed Deputy Commissioners and District Agriculture Officers to intensify registration drives in their respective districts.

The minister stated that district administrations must extend all possible assistance to ensure farmers can complete the registration process without difficulty. He noted that timely registration would enable farmers to avail benefits of various welfare schemes of both the Central and State Governments without disruption.

Hazarika also urged district administrations to actively support the expansion of oil palm cultivation under the NMEO-OP programme, stating that the crop has significant potential to enhance farmers’ income and strengthen the state’s agricultural economy.

The minister further stressed the timely implementation of agricultural projects, accurate integration of data and greater inter-departmental coordination. Reiterating the state government's commitment to a farmer-centric, technology-driven and transparent agricultural system, he called for sustained efforts to improve service delivery in the agriculture sector.

Agriculture Department Commissioner and Secretary Aruna Rajoria, Director of Land Records and Surveys Kailash Kartik and other senior officials of the department were present at the meeting.----------

Hindusthan Samachar / Sriprakash