DAO advises farmers to cultivate mustard
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, February 23 2024:
Mustard plants which were sown in areas that faced shortage of water as well as in the fields affected by the violence are now all ripe and ready for harvest.
According to Imphal West district agriculture officer Sougaijam Kennedy, farmers can now earn approximately Rs 15,000 per sangam of the mustard field within a period of three months.
On Friday, a team of officials consisting of DAO Kennedy, and others visited the 387 'pari' of field at Sangaithel, which were used for planting mustard and found the plants ready for harvest.
Speaking on the sidelines, the DAO informed that mustard plants were planted in around 90,000 pari of field across the state, of which 3000 pari in Imphal West district were the target for this year's first winter harvest.
On November 20 last, around 387 paris of land unsuitable for growing paddy were selected for growing mustard plants.
Initially, it was planned to sow the mustard seeds in only 150 pari but after mass participation of farmers, the area was further expanded.
Kenedy continued that mustard is being grown in a compact manner in other areas of Imphal West district such as Chajing, Mayang Imphal, Heikrujam, Kangmong and others.
He informed that farmers spent around Rs 8000 in planting mustards in one sangam, which would then yield up to 20 tonnes of mustard seeds, which on sale can help farmer easily fetch up to Rs 22,000, an average of Rs 14,000-15,000 in three months.
If a farmer grows mustard in one pari, he can earn up to Rs 50,000-60,000, the agriculture office maintained, and urged farmers to sow mustard seeds after harvesting paddy and help the state become self-sustainable.