Presentation by Group-IV (West Bengal, Jharkhand, A&N Islands, Bihar, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, Sikkim)

West Bengal Facing difficulty in getting quality seed for pulses. Fertilizer: Shortage of Urea upto 30, 000 MTs Drought: contingency plan for Purulia District made. 460 MTs toria distributed.. For Rabi, pans made. Funding is less than required. Fund utilization: progress good.

Jharkhand Drought: Against the target of lakh ha, only 6.9 lakh ha shown. Fertilizer: Shortage of Singe Super Phosphate to the tune of 10,000 MTs Fund utilization: progress good.

Andman and Nicobar Meager demand for fertilizer. Request to give in two installments in place of monthly quota. RKVY: for micro irrigation, demand for increasing subsidy upto 75% in view of high input cost.

Bihar Drought: against target of 45 lakh ha, only lakh ha shown. Seeds of alternate crops Toria and Moong distributed for covering upto 5 lakh ha. Rainfall in September is also deficient, which is likely to affect Rabi. Lentil: districts selected by the State Government not being accepted by the DAC. NFSM: Shortage of eligible candidates for appointments against district level posts, hence need to relax the criteria of educational qualification. Fund utilization: progress good.

Assam 90% area under rice. Fertiliser: Utilization is meager. Less than 50% of national average. Farmers do not get fertilizer in time as cost of transportation is very high. Transport subsidy is much less than required, therefore, dealers not interested in supplying feriliser.

Arunanchal Pradesh 15% shortfall in production likely due to heavy floods. Fertilizer: not available at right time. NFSM :Three more districts (which are rice growing districts) need to be included in NFSM. Shortage of Post Graduates for running the scheme. To meet the shortfall, the State has suggested that its ready to sponsor some in- service staff if ICAR agreed to train/educate them. ATMA : Shortage of skilled manpower.

Manipur Demand for inclusion of 4 Districts which have high rice productivity to be included in National Food Security Mission

Meghalaya Fertliser: same difficulty as faced by Assam. ATMA: No funds after RKVY: Unspent balance of last year available. Due to early onset of monsoon, the funds can be utilized in October/November

Mizoram Kharif prospects better than last year. Cultivation of oil-palm being taken up. ATMA: could not prepare plan.

Tripura Request was made to supply seeds of super fast varieties (requiring days) of rice Need was expressed for more research on Lathyrus sp, which is drought resistant, so that the State is allowed to grow it. Also need was expressed for research on Vicia faba, a variety of Rajma. Fertiliser: need to enhance subsidy on transport

Nagaland For rabi, seeds are required in time. NFSM: guidelines regarding educational qualification of candidates need to be relaxed. RKVY: Delay as SLSC meeting is not yet held. Fertiliser: Shortage of DAP to the tune of 546 MTs. Also, need to enhance subsidy on transport Seed: not available and often reaches late. National Seed Corporation should circulate price list. Also seed subsidy should be increased. Water Shortage. Fully rainfed. Rodent menace. Fund utilization: no unspent balance. UCs to be submitted.

Sikkim Good monsoon. Good crop expected. Committed to go for organic farming. No unspent balance.