Shrinking of agricultural land in Manipur

Emelda Ahongshangbam *

Agriculture Department expansion of Model Seed Village at Maklang in 2009 :: Pix - Jinendra Maibam

Agriculture, being the main occupation of the people of Manipur, contributes a major share to the total state domestic product and provides employment to about 52.19 percent of the total size of the cultivated area is about 7.41 percent only of the total area of the state.

Of this total cultivated area 52 percent is confined to the valley. Therefore, half of the total valley area which accommodates 67percent of the total population is occupied for agricultural purposes.

Manipur is blessed with suitable climatic to produce enormous agricultural stuff due to which the farmer grew crash crops, food, fruits and vegetables in large quantities. Hilly areas are producing paddy and also conducive for farming of vegetables and fruits. Organic farming has also been started at many hilly areas of the state.

In Manipur, the naturally grown plants include Pineapple, Passion Fruit and Mushroom. Surprisingly, Turmeric and Ginger along with Bamboo Shoot and Mushrooms are commercially grown and exported outside the state.

On the other hand, the agricultural sector in the state is in a dire state, as the total cultivated area is less than 10percent of the total land area and half of the cultivated land falls inside the valley, making it susceptible to encroachment and urban population expansion. Since the cultivated land is under 10percent of the total land area in Manipur, people do a lot of research to find out the best ways to increase production in the wake of expansion of the residential area.

Nowadays, due to increase in the population, the shrinking of agricultural land has become a matter of concern in Manipur. The total agricultural area of the state (both in valley and hills) is around 1,95,000 hectares while the state needs to produce 25 lakh tonnes of rice in a year to feed its over 25 lakhs population estimating a consumption of 250kg of rice per head a year.

The utilization of agricultural land for other purpose, like construction of government offices, private schools, brick fields in the mainland for housing purposes, etc. has been on the rise in the last 10 years. And besides, acquisition of land for expansion of Imphal Airport at Malom and Ningombam area and expansion of Power Sub-Station at Yurembam both in Imphal West District, has further reduced the available land area for cultivation.

As a result of it, the production of food grains has decreased and the livelihood of farmers has been crippled thus leading to poor conditions of the family. Worried over shrinking of agricultural land, farmers in Manipur have taken upon themselves the task of preserving farmland by launching a 'mission' of their own so that their land is not used for any other non-agricultural purposes. IN this regard, the initiative of Agricultural Land Preservation Mission taken up by the Heingang Kendra Loumi Lup, a farmers' body in Heingang Kendra, is worth mentioning.

One of the suggestions for protecting of agricultural land specially in the valley area is that construction of offices and installation of projects that are mostly concentrated only at the cultivable land areas, could be shifted to foot hills or hilly areas.

Lastly, until and unless, a law is enforced by the govt. to deal with land utilization specially cultivable lands, the problem of diminishing agricultural land would not be able to solve. There is also the urgent need to organise various awareness programmes and campaigns at different parts of the State to bring about a change in the mindset of the people for proper utilisation of the available agricultural land in Manipur.