Shillong(Meghalaya), May 11, The State Government took a major step toward sustainable agriculture on Sunday with the inauguration of a new Biochar Plant at Umsli under the Meghalaya Community Biochar Initiative. Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma officially launched the facility at the Eastern Ri-Bhoi Organic Farmer Producer Company Processing Plant.
Supported by the Centre of Excellence for NRM & Sustainable Livelihoods and the Meghalaya Basin Management Agency, the initiative will use biochar to enhance soil fertility, improve crop productivity, and contribute to climate change mitigation. Agriculture remains the backbone of the state’s economy, and the plant aims to turn that strength into a climate-resilient model.
In his keynote address, the Chief Minister said the primary agenda for the state is to benefit, uplift, and improve the income of farmers. With more than 70 percent of Meghalaya’s workforce engaged in agriculture, he said helping farmers is the core mission. The state is focusing on foundational support like soil health, quality seeds, timely assistance, and working capital, while prioritising value addition to agricultural products. He added that a new spice processing unit will be inaugurated in the next couple of months to serve farmers across Ri-Bhoi and the state. Noting significant growth in farmer incomes over the last eight years, he said, “One of the most important agendas for our government is to see how we can benefit, how we can uplift, and how we can improve the income of our farmers.”
The Chief Minister also released two inventory reports: The Bamboo Resource Inventory of Meghalaya and the State-Wide Inventory of Arecanut & Other Horticulture Tree Plantations.
Damanbait Lamare, MLA of Umroi Constituency, said the new biochar plant will bring significant benefits to local bamboo growers and promote organic farming. He urged stakeholders to maintain the facility to ensure long-term productivity and added that the upcoming spice factory will uplift people’s livelihoods.
Revistar Kharumnuid, CEO of Eastern Ri-Bhoi Organic FPC, recalled that this was the Chief Minister’s second visit to their FPC, after laying the foundation stone of the Spice PRIME Hub, which will be completed in the next two months and is slated to be the biggest organic spice industrial unit in the North East. He said the FPC has engaged 10 organic FPOs that will benefit 4500 farmers, and the new biochar plant has already enrolled 150 bamboo growers and 500 ginger farmers.
S. Ashutosh, Co-chairman & Director, CoE, MBDA, said the initiative offers a transformative pathway toward a climate-resilient, green economy and will be catalytic in achieving the state’s goal of bringing 100,000 hectares under organic cultivation by 2028, while creating new rural livelihood enterprises.
The pilot project has been initiated in two clusters, one each in Khasi-Jaintia and Garo regions. Two mid-size pyrolysis reactors have been installed at Umsli and two more are being installed at Chenggalgre IVCS, Dadenggre.
With strong policy backing and community engagement, Meghalaya is adopting practices like biochar to transform into a climate-resilient, green economy while protecting environmental quality and socio-economic development.
