High time to conserve cultivation land
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, March 01 2011:
It is high time to pass the Manipur Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Bill into an Act in order to save the paddy fields of the state which are on the verge of extinction due to the increasing acquisition of the state government in the name of development and using the paddy fields for other reason by the public.
According to an official of the state agriculture department, the total agricultural land in Manipur as per the record of the department is around 1.95 lakh hectares out of which around 35 thousands hectares are identified to be suitable for double cropping.
A collective 2.30 lakh hectares of field have been calculated to produce paddy annually in the state.
However the actual figure differs very much from the records of the department since many agricultural lands have been converted either in government's developmental works and individual purposes of public.
Imphal West is in the top loser of agricultural land among the other districts in the state.
The department had issued notice to district agriculture officers to conduct survey on agricultural land and submit the reports.
Manipur is already facing shortage of food grains even as the state used to produce food grains in around 2.30 lakh hectares.
The loss of agricultural land for various causes has added to the woe to the shortage problem of food grains.
With the increasing population, state will be facing more shortage of food grain in the coming year if the state government does not discuss for a good policy to conserve the agricultural land.
It may be mentioned that MLA O Joy had introduced the Manipur Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Bill in the state assembly on July 10, 2009.Unfortunately, the state government is not taking the issue seriously to pass the bill into an act.
The bill was not discussed by the house since then.
However, Chief Minister O Ibobi had assured to revive the Land Use Board, modify MLR and LR and take up necessary actions to conserve the agricultural land in the state.