Agriculture situation in Meghalaya with special reference to West Khasi Hills district

Abstract

West Khasi Hills is one of the largest district of Meghalaya covering a geographical area of 3846 sq.km, with net sown area of 137.20 sq. km and 135% cropping intensity . Rice, maize, potato are the main crops grown with varieties of horticultural crops like chow chow, tomato, pea,c arrot, leafy vegatables, ginger, broom grass and temperate fruits. The present study was conducted to project the demand supply of major food items and their gap, to list the major problems and strategies for development of agriculture in the district. Results revealed that the demand of cereals and pulses will be 51.36 and 2.814 thousand tonnes by 2030 in the district, with expected gap of cereals (-26.70), pulses (-2.63) respectively. Major problems in agriculture are monocropping, preference of local varieties, unawareness of government schemes and strategies like policy measures, establishment of FPO and area expansion for agriculture development in the district.