Meghalaya asks farmers to take up livestock farming

Mukul was addressing at a farmers' festival titled 'Technological options in livelihood security for the tribal farmers' organized by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) here.

As an introductory offer to the farmers, the Chief Minister handed over to farmers, a pair of Emu birds besides piglets, fingerlings, poultry birds and horticultural seeds.

The flightless birds were brought all the way from Switzerland and are renowned for their resistance to diseases and can survive in harsh climatic condition, he said.

Asserting that his government is trying its level to make 'farming and living in rural areas' more attractive, Mukul said, "We have identified various development and livelihood programmes to, side by side, uplift the economic standard and increased food security in the state.