Agri minister releases report on crop value chains
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, August 11 2022: Agriculture minister Th Biswajit Singh on Thursday released a report entitled, 'One District, One Crop: A Study of Crop Value Chains in Manipur' based on work carried out by MaolKeki Foundation with support from National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Department of Economic Analysis & Research.

As per a statement issued by MaolKeki Foundation, the agriculture minister said during the release function that the study on crop value chains carried out over an extended period exploring how farmers could improve productivity and embark on an entrepreneurship journey that will help meet the Prime Minister's goal of doubling farmers' income is highly commendable and he truly appreciates it.

"Supporting farmers to also utilise whatever limited water they have with modern irrigation solutions and other technologies to address production and market issues are crucial topics for the agriculture department and I assure my full support," he said.

The statement also quoted NABARD chief general manager Dr KJS Satyasai as saying that Manipur has rich natural resources and innovative peo pie suitable for horticulture value chains specific to each district.

The purpose of this study is to give an idea to policy makers where to invest and how much.

Hope this study is used by the stakeholders concerned, the general manager said.

MaolKeki Foundation trustee Dr Shachi Gurumayum, who released the report alongside the minister and project coordinator Nirupa Sanjenbam, highlighted that the 150-page report was a result of extensive field-based research carried out by a team of associates in 2021.The team collected over 3,00,000 data points from a total of nine districts with complete data sets from seven districts.

MaolKeki Foundation also informed that the key findings of the study confirmed that horticultural crop production is a rapidly evolving sector in Manipur.

The agricultural value chain in the state is still at a nascent stage providing much room for developing and shaping the sector to drive economic growth in the state.

Covid played a detrimental role across the value chains affecting the farmers and traders most while consumers struggled with lack of availability and high prices of produce.

There is limited processing of horticultural crops thus highlighting another opportunity for development.

Findings vary with districts, however major challenges highlighted include knowledge gap in production, unavailability of irrigation facilities, lack of storage and transport infrastructure, limited marketing & sales capability, and financing with very limited use of financial institutions.

Limited hard copies of the report will be distributed to key stakeholders while an electronic copy of the report will be released soon via the MaolKeki Foundation online platforms as well as other channels for all interested parties to download, it further conveyed.

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