SHILLONG: Meghalaya reaffirmed its commitment to women-led sustainable agriculture as it inaugurated the two-day International Conference on Women Farmers and Sustainable Organic Agriculture at the State Convention Centre on Friday, bringing together delegates from 10 countries to celebrate the UN International Year of the Woman Farmer.
Organised by the Meghalaya Natural and Organic Farming Society for Livelihood and Innovation in Agriculture (MEGNOLIA) under the Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, in association with IFOAM Organics Asia and KfW, the conference is being held under the theme “Women Farmers Leading Change Globally for Organic Food Systems.” Around 400 participants, including women farmers, policymakers and researchers from Nepal, Bhutan, Vietnam, Fiji, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand, Japan and the Philippines, are attending the event.
Addressing the gathering, chief minister Conrad K. Sangma said the government’s development agenda over the past eight years has remained centred on farmers, women, youth and other stakeholders.
“Whatever actions we take, we must keep our farmers, women, youth and other stakeholders in front of us,” he said.
Highlighting Meghalaya’s unique matrilineal society, the chief minister said the State’s social structure gives women farmers a deep sense of ownership over land, making them natural custodians of sustainable agriculture.
“Meghalaya is a matrilineal society, but what makes things even more special is when you connect farming, sustainability and organic farming with our matrilineal system. You actually unlock something magical,” he said.
He explained that because women inherit and own land, they cultivate it with a sense of pride and emotional investment that goes beyond farming. “The ownership they have and the emotion you see in their eyes when they are planting, that is the sustainability we are talking about,” he remarked, adding that such commitment cannot be fully expressed in words but is evident when one visits farms across the State.
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The chief minister also pointed out that Meghalaya has witnessed more than a thousand per cent growth in Self-Help Groups and farmer producer groups over the last eight years, reflecting the government’s sustained efforts to strengthen grassroots institutions.
Emphasising the value of indigenous agricultural knowledge, Sangma said Meghalaya’s traditional farming practices have much to offer the world and must be preserved while embracing appropriate modern technologies.
Calling for greater regional collaboration, the chief minister said the Northeast should be viewed as a single organic and biodiversity-rich region rather than as individual states.
“The Northeast may be divided by maps, but it is one in terms of biodiversity, culture, tribal communities and traditional practices,” he said.
According to him, presenting the Northeast as one integrated region would significantly enhance its global visibility, attract larger investments and improve commercial viability for organic agriculture.
“For us, Meghalaya is big, but compared to the rest of the world it is a small state. When we look at the Northeast as a region, a market and an area of interest, it opens up a completely different chapter,” he observed.
Sangma also underlined the need for constructive partnerships with the private sector to expand markets and investments while ensuring that such collaborations align with the State’s vision for sustainable and farmer-centric development.
“We may not want the private sector to come in the way it usually does, but we need partnerships in a manner that is acceptable to our mission,” he said.
Agriculture and farmers’ welfare minister Timothy D. Shira said women are not merely participants in agriculture but custodians of traditional knowledge, playing a central role in preserving indigenous farming systems. He said the government is not only promoting premium crops such as Lakadong turmeric and Khasi mandarin but is also investing in processing infrastructure, quality certification and branding to enable women farmers to become stakeholders in profitable value-added enterprises.
Commissioner and Secretary, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Department, Dr. Vijay Kumar D., IAS, described the conference as perhaps the first large-scale celebration in India dedicated exclusively to women farmers.
“Women hold a majority of the land and are primary drivers of our rural economy, particularly in agriculture. Meghalaya is perhaps the most appropriate venue to host such a conference,” he said.
Dr. Vijay Kumar also said the State remains on course to achieve the chief minister’s 2022 target of bringing one lakh hectares under organic cultivation. With nearly 24,000 hectares already certified under the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP), he expressed confidence that the target would be achieved within the next two years.
During the programme, the government officially launched Phase II of the Meghalaya State Organic Mission (MSOM) 2024–2028. Under Phase I, organic cultivation has already been implemented across 28,742 hectares. Phase II aims to bring an additional 44,000 hectares covering about 46,000 small and marginal farmers under organic farming.
The Meghalaya State Organic Mission, launched in 2024 under MEGNOLIA with an investment of ₹295 crore over three years, seeks to transform Meghalaya into a globally competitive organic hub while ensuring that women farmers, Self-Help Groups and producer organisations derive tangible benefits from the organic value chain.
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President of IFOAM Organics Asia, Mathew John, praised Meghalaya’s commitment to the organic movement, saying the State already possesses many of the elements that other parts of Asia are striving to build. He commended the government’s efforts in integrating sustainable farming, biodiversity conservation, indigenous knowledge and women’s empowerment.
The conference also highlighted Meghalaya’s growing international profile in organic agriculture, following the successful hosting of the first Northeast India Organic Week and the fourth World IFOAM Organic Youth Summit in 2025, which brought together participants from 13 countries.
As part of the programme, cheques amounting to ₹5.80 crore were distributed to Integrated Village Cooperative Societies (IVCS) across all 12 districts as the second tranche of organic input support under Phase I of the Meghalaya State Organic Mission.
