Meghalaya Legislative Assembly Speaker, Thomas A Sangma on Friday launched the Sloping Agriculture Land Technology (SALT) Project at Sasatgre on the foothills of Nokrek Biosphere Reserve.
This pilot project is being implemented in the villages of Baldinggre, Dura Kalakgre and Sasatgre in West and East Garo Hills districts and will be implemented in other areas in future.
Speaking on the occasion, Meghalaya Assembly Speaker, Thomas A Sangma said that the acronym SALT is appealing and was wondering what kind of SALT project it was, but after knowing it, the project seemed important and necessary to prevent soil erosion and add fertility to the soil. Mentioning that Meghalaya State has the World’s heaviest rainfall in the world but these huge amount of water do not retain in the soil and flows to the neighbouring Assam and about 80 percent to Bangladesh, and said that it is necessary to retain this water for using during dry season, etc adding that this year there is late and less rainfall and have been experiencing unusual climate change in the region.
He also mentioned that along with the flow of water the top fertile soil among others flows away and hence the cultivable land of the area becomes less productive which are being experienced these days. Therefore, this SALT project is aimed to help water retention as well as to prevent soil erosion and add fertility to the soil especially in the hill slopes and in the abandoned jhum cultivation areas. Further, he also said that in order to make the soil fertile nitrogen fixation is necessary and a plant that fixes nitrogen will be planted along these slopes where agriculture and allied activities will be practiced along these slopes.
Stating that the Government and the District Officials have been initiating and implementing different important projects for the benefit of the people, he said that people should be willing to support and cooperate with these projects and expressed hope that these projects will definitely help to increase production of fruits and vegetables and thereby uplift the economy of the rural people of the region.
Also present on the occasion was Minister for Soil and Water Conservation, Government of Meghalaya Marcuise N Marak beside other dignitaries including District Officials and the loacal people.
Delivering his address, the Minister Incharge Soil and Water Conservation, Government of Meghalaya Marcuise N Marak shared the present context of drastic climate change where we are experiencing global warming, imbalance environmental concerns in the area and everywhere and therefore, he said that we need to change our ways and system of life in order to protect and preserve our environment for future generation.
Mentioning about the disadvantages of jhum cultivation he said that the practice of clearing the trees and surrounding environment is harmful for nature and adopting the new Sloping Agriculture Land Technology (SALT) project is a welcome step and advised the people to support and implement the project for better agricultural production and enhanced livelihood in the area. Reminding that the Nokrek Biosphere Reserve is the source of the main rivers of Garo Hills region, he urged everyone to lend a helping hand in preserving the water sources as well as the surrounding environment.
Earlier, during the beginning of the program, the Chief Guest, Guest of Honour and other dignitaries planted a nitrogen fixation sapling at the SALT project implementation site at Sasatgre.