Guwahati: Agriculture minister Pijush Hazarika warned of action against officials delaying oil palm projects and companies missing cultivation deadlines.Chairing a meeting with oil palm companies on Thursday, Hazarika urged them to help mobilise farmers and assured govt support for securing land in Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao.He warned district agriculture officers against delays in clearing projects, stating that “strict punitive action would be taken against negligent officials”. According to a govt release, companies that fail to execute their cultivation plans within the stipulated timelines could be blacklisted.Earlier, speaking at a National Mushroom Day event at the Assam Administrative Staff College, Hazarika stressed the need to increase local spawn production and directed officials to organise skill-development training across all districts throughout the year.“The agriculture department will set up two spawn production units in each district from next year, with an allocation of Rs 10 lakh per unit, and establish 200 mushroom processing units across the state,” he said. The govt will also provide Rs 1 lakh each to 1,000 progressive farmers from next year and organise exposure visits to states such as West Bengal, he added.Hazarika urged farmers to adopt multi-cropping, encouraged women to take up mushroom cultivation and advised farmers to use the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund. He said AIF loans were collateral-free and asked applicants to inform the department if banks demanded collateral.He added that, under the chief minister’s directive, the state would bring an additional 20% of land under irrigation.
