Climate Change impact on Manipur Agriculture sector

Sobhapati Samom *

The rise in temperature, changing the rainfall patterns in this era of Climate Change has been affecting Manipur's agricultural sector. Production of rice, potato, chilli and even pineapple and oranges have been severely affected due to the climate change and subsequent human pressure this year.

Orange cultivator Rahoulung Golmei, 35 of Dailong village had already abandoned his orange orchard at Khoukum village in Tamenglong district to do small time business in hill district headquarter of Tamenglong,150 km west of state capital. This young father of two children who used to earn a minimum of Rs 50,000 in a season from his Orange orchard having around 700 orange trees, now started selling second hand clothes in the hill station following the widespread and sudden dead of his orange plants due to an unknown plant disease two years ago.

Manipur produces around 31,968 metric tonnes of oranges when cultivated in an area of 4,138 hectares of land in the year 2008-09. Tamenglong district alone produces 17,311 metric tonnes. Like him, another orange cultivator Asenbou Newmai, 34 of Phellong village in the same district also faced the climate change impact in his orange orchard.

"The production of the fruit will decline in view of the dead of many orange plants", Asenbou, father of 6 children who usually earns Rs 1 lakh every year from his orchard said. "We really don't know the reason behind the sudden drying up of its branches".

The experts are of the view that lack of proper care due to human pressure and Climate Change would be the major factor for the dead of the trees. "A little known insect-Asian long horn beetle might have attacked the citreous fruits the way they've eaten up branches and stem of Yongchak (Parkia Timoriana or tree bean) in the recent times", Prof Kh Ibohal, an Entomologist in Central Agricultural University(CAU) in Imphal said. "The insect appeared here because of climate change and global warming". "We've been observing this though no specific study has been done", he added.

Last year, Manipuri's favorite delicacy - Yongchak has almost disappeared from the Imphal markets after thousands of its trees both in hills and valley were dried up due to the insects attack. Yongchak Eromba, prepared with fermented fish, is one of the most delicious and sought after dish of Manipuris during winter.

"Except some, most of the cultivators in hills are not serious about giving nutrients to the decades old orange trees not to speak of attending them with proper technology inputs", says A Rajlakshmi, subject matter specialist (Horticulture) of Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Manipur centre.

According to the specialist, the over-all citreous declined in Manipur is because of lack of attention to the trees, no insect measures and indiscriminate killing of wild birds besides the untimely rain patterns during monsoon.

The unpredicted rain in early part of October has affected 20,081 hectares of rice fields including 65 hectares of pea and 13 of potato in Manipur as per state agriculture department sources. Meteorological (MET) Office, Imphal has recorded actual rainfall of 594.7 mm during last year's monsoon (June to September) against this year's rainfall of 801.1 mm. In 2008 monsoon, the state records rainfall of 625.3 mm.

More than a hundred families including N Muhindro, 35 a resident of Okram Chuthek locality in the Imphal East district which remains the worst affected district as water submerged 10,738 hectares of rice fields, 124 hectares of vegetable farms and 11 hectares of spices besides displacing 23,000 families under 55 villages, who use to get 40 bags of rice (60kg per bag) in an average from his rice field measuring half of a hectare at Loumanbi Loukon field, are helpless as no alternative could be taken as the flood water that had destroyed the entire standing crops,is yet to recede from their fields till mid-November.

A progressive farmer Thokchom Ibomcha,45 of Kakching Ningthou Leikai village in Thoubal district which supplies half of Manipur's agricultural crops mostly rice due to its fertile soil, is also facing a similar trauma as unpredicted rain had destroyed the pea plants at his rice field measuring 1 hectare at Pallel Loukon Khunman Engkhol in the district.

"The unpredicted rain for the first time destroyed the newly germinated pea plants at my field", Ibomcha, the pioneer pea cultivator under zero tillage formula who had been annually getting an additional income of Rs 20,000 (since the last three years) from pea, said.

Sharing a similar sentiment Oja Surjit of Kakching Senapati Leikai village who has a potato farm at the popular low lying field-Lousi Loukon, said , "The changes in the rainfall pattern makes things worse here in the field", the school teacher said. "Time has come for everyone to mitigate the situation".

Similarly the untimely or unpredicted rain had even destroyed the standing chilli plants at various parts of the state. As a result locally grown green or dry chilli are not easily available in the market unlike the previous year.

The Climate Change and subsequent human intervention has forced a young cultivator Ch Kishan, 30 of Saram Tangkhul village in Thoubal district is compelled to convert his flood prone rice field measuring 1.5 hectare into Kouna or reed farm since last year. Nongpoksekmai river which passes near his field usually overflows during monsoon season due to heavy siltation of the river bed.

"I started fish farming 10 years ago", Kishan who believed that Kouna could be harvested thrice a year without less labour,said. "Now I'm looking for the new option so that fish farming and Kouna cultivation could be integrated with less labour".Kauna is a type of reed usually grown in the wetlands and marshes and is often used for making handicrafts items.

Thus Kishan and some Nongmaithet villagers have taken up the practice of Kauna cultivation on its economic values and now they used to get 250 to 300 bundles per hectare (each bundle costs Rs 100). "However we've lost the charm of harvesting rice", he lamented. "We used to get 80-100 bags of rice per hectare ( A rice bag weighing 50kg costs Rs 800 in local market)in the better days".

Contrary to farmers in the low lying valley area, tenant farmer J Hechuon,62 of Bunglon village in Manipur's hill district of Churachandpur, is allergic to the summer heat since the last few years as he need to spend extra money for maintaining his pineapple 2 hectare farm land on the slopes of Khousabung hill range.

In the eighties this successful farmer used to get a profit of about Rs 20,000 annually from pineapple cultivation alone but now it has increased upto Rs 50,000. Like him, almost all the 60 households of Bunglon enjoyed similar incomes from pineapple farming alone.

The climate change has forced them to spend extra money for the protection of the fruits. "I've been spending Rs 5000 to 6000 for hiring local labourers to maintain the farm since the last two seasons", the head of a 10 member joint family said. Officially Manipur produces 1,09,519 metric tonnes of pineapples from its 12,048 hectares farms land in 2008-09.

Unfortunately no scientific study has been done till date on climate change and its impact on the state's agricultural sector."So far no study has been done in this regard in our university", Prof M Ruhinikumar, Director(Research) of CAU, Manipur said. "However we're planning to take up the task in the shortest possible time". The university is presently pre-occupied with several priority research works.