Farmer’s Meet cum interaction program held in Manipur

Last Updated on February 17, 2023 by SPN Editor

For the first time in Manipur, Farmer’s Meet cum interaction program was organised at City Convention Centre in Imphal today. The program was held to analyse and address farmers’ issues at the earliest. This program was aimed to intensify agriculture and production in Manipur, which will greatly help our farmers in line of #AatmaNirbharKrishi.

Addressing the farmers as Chief Guest of the function, CM N Biren Singh appealed to farmers of the State for a gradual shift towards organic farming from chemical fertilizers for a healthier society. The meeting cum interaction programme was organised by the Directorate of Agriculture, Government of Manipur. State Agriculture Minister Thongam Biswajit Singh also attended the event as President along with Commissioner Agriculture M. Joy Singh Director of Agriculture, Manipur N. Gojendro and other experts.

CM N Biren Singh and Agri Minister Th Biswajit Singh directly interacted with farmers on various agriculture related issues and ensured them of every support for better crop productivity.

Speaking at the function, N Biren Singh has said that a Farmers’ Cell should be set up by the department on the lines of “CM da haisi” with toll-free phone numbers, where a dedicated set of officials and staff will receive grievances from the farmers and act to resolve them. He said this cell will help in narrowing the gap between the officials and the farmers. Explaining the importance of the Agriculture sector, he said that today the Prime Minister’s special focus on the agriculture sector is to become self-reliant.

Hinting that there was a lack of transparency, coordination, and communication among the departments, CM stressed that government departments are all correlated and require coordination among them. He said that a joint effort of the Agriculture, Forest, Minor Irrigation, CADA, Horticulture, Veterinary departments is necessary to develop agriculture in the State and to look into the grievances highlighted by the farmers.

He also cited a few grievances highlighted by the farmers and appealed to government officials to bring transparency and to be sincere to their jobs.Farmers cannot be asked to increase their products without a proper market to sell their products, he said, explaining that without a proper market, their products will perish which will only discourage them. Stating that the e-marketing system has made it easier to sell products, he said that how to market the farmers’ products should be the responsibility of the officials.

During the meeting cum interaction programme, farmers from across the State highlighted their grievances on various issues including lack of proper irrigation facilities, machineries, fertilizers, provision of seeds by the officials in time, provision of quality seeds, organic fertilizer, lack of awareness on crop insurance, among others.