Poor irrigation, urea scarcity worries KUDC
Source: Chronicle News Service

Kumbi, July 31 2021: Kumbi Urban Development Committee (KUDC) has raised concern over the hardships besetting farmers of Bishnupur district due to poor irrigation network and scarcity of urea.

KUDC secretary Wahengbam Rorrkychand told media persons that its representatives interacted with several farmers in Kumbi and other ACs in Bishnupur district during which it came to light that agricultural areas in Kumbi and several other areas are on the verge of facing a drought-like situation due to shabby condition of the irrigation canal despite having sufficient sources of water such Khuga River, Kumbi Lake and other RLI schemes.

In the absence of an MLA and indifferent attitude of the government, farmers in Kumbi area are facing untold hardships, he said.

Even though many of the farmers are managing to partially irrigate their field through their own arrangements, the food producers have been facing issues in procuring requisite quantity of fertilisers, he said.

As such, peeved with the government apathy, farmers in the area are questioning the how they would survive in such situations, the secretary maintained.

Upon enquiring with the district agriculture office, KUDC was told that the district was allotted only 10,000 bags of urea this year as compared to 60,000 bags last year.

Failure on the part of the government to provide proper irrigation system and ensure fertilisers to the farmers is a serious issue that will affect the backbone of the economy of the state, whose 76 per cent of the population are farmers, and will become a major roadblock in achieving the target of self-reliance as envisaged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, lamented Rorrkychand.

He also drew the attention of the chief minister and the agriculture minister to ensure adequate provision of fertiliser for farmers in Bishnupur district by August 3 failing which, the Committee in association with the farmers would be compelled to launch a series of agitations.

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