Over Rs 2 crore transferred to organic farmers via DBT
Urea quota for Manipur reduced : Biswajit
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, March 27 2023: The Centre has reduced the quota of urea for the State this year, said Agriculture Minister Th Biswajit today.

He said this at an event held at his office at New Secretariat today where he distributed benefits to organic farmers.

The Minister said, Rs 2,62,50,000 have been transferred through direct benefit transfer (DBT) to 7,000 registered organic farmers.

The benefits were given to the farmers under the phase-III (2020-23) of the Mission Organic Value Chain Development For North East Region (MOVCDNER) of the Ministry of Agriculture.

He said, there are six service providers and 14 Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs) engaging in organic farming.

Under the mission, a farmer is given Rs 3,750 per hectare of land used for organic farming.

The money transferred today aims at providing assistance to the farmers engaged in organic farming, he said.

Over Rs 2 crore transferred to organic farmers via DBT

Talking about environmentally friendly approaches in farming, Th Biswajit stressed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is promoting organic farming as well as natural farming with the aim to minimize the use of 'harmful' chemical fertilizer and encourage use of organic and nano fertilizer.

The State quota for urea this year has been reduced and there has also been instructions given to reduce dependence on chemical fertilizer, he said, hinting that the decrease in the quota of urea is in line with this.

He continued that Manipur has a total area of 22,327 square kilometers and it has 2,28,520 hectares of agricultural land.

Of the total agricultural area, organic farming is being done in only 11,500 hectares.

Organic farming should be expanded to cover more areas.

Steps are being taken up to increase the number of farmer producing companies to encourage more farmers to adopt organic farming, he added.

Th Biswajit also noted that the Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act 2014 is amended from time to time to protect agricultural land.

Agriculture requires good irrigation systems and good water supply.

Towards this, steps are being taken up to use underground water for agriculture from this year under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY).

Also, the Irrigation Department is digging up wells for supply of water, he said.

Studying the change in the climate conditions, there is also a plan to try and cultivate millets in some selected areas.

Millets need little water to grow, he said.

The Agriculture Minister also talked about a State plan to cultivate palm for oil.

The Government is going ahead with the Manipur Oil Palm Mission.

Experts are arriving in April to chalk out necessary plans for this mission, he said.

For palm oil cultivation, all necessary materials will be provided to farmers free of costs.

Moreover, a farmer will also get Rs 50,000 for four years after plantation, he added.

Th Biswajit continued that a palm tree matures in 5 years after plantation and it produces fruits afterwards that will be cultivated for oil.

Agriculture Commissioner RK Dinesh, who was present said, Manipur has around 1,50,000 organic farmers and the same benefits given today through DBT will cover the remaining farmers phase wise.

Agriculture Director N Gojendro among other officials attended the programme.