Protecting our paddy fields

Prof E. Bijoykumar Singh *

Rose Garden, Yurembam :: April 2012 :: Pix - Bullu Raj

We have heard lots of laments on the dwindling area under paddy cultivation. Growing dependency on foodgrains from outside the state, under a narrow interpretation of food security, has been dubbed the manifestation of a deep malaise. Unfortunately, we have not tried to address the fundamentals of the problem .It is no exception in our society where in most cases we have circumvented, not solved the problem. That has always led to another matrix of problems.

Manipur, area wise, may be small but in terms of subnationalities, we may compete favourably with even Akhilesh’s UP or Nitish’s Bihar. Paddy cultivation has become one of the least remunerative occupations in rural India. Many other more remunerative avenues are emerging and more remunerative alternative use of land is also emerging. In Karnataka many villagers became crorepati by selling their land to IT companies. They have been eking out a harsh existence from their unirrigated land.

In Manipur, construction has been the driver behind economic growth and its spill-over to real estate is only a matter of time. The price of land near the airport is an indicator of the future. This leads to a situation where the farmer wants to quit farming and the land owner is keen to put his agricultural land to some alternative uses. Under these circumstances no appeal to food security is enough to persuade the stakeholders to have a rethink on the issue.

One such alternative is floriculture which is amenable to the small and marginal farmers. The last few years have witnessed the multiplication of gardens and nurseries in and around Imphal. Gardening used to be my hobby and I even offered a paper in gardening in socially productive work in my school. There were only two ladies selling flower plants near Shamumakhong. One of them was doing it as a past time as her son was a well established doctor.

When I was writing this piece their faces appeared vividly. Whenever we had some extra money, my friend would buy Wild West comics from PC Jain and I used to buy flower plants from these ladies. Grapes, bottle brush, roses were some of the items I used to buy regularly. One of them would encouragingly tell us to plant grapes because we would able to eat the grapes when we become older.

It is a pity that none of them has survived due to land development in my locality. Unlike in other places instead of relocating them we chose to cut them. That was Imphal forty years back.

Today floriculture has become very popular. We can now buy plants of our choice from the numerous shops selling the plants. Public places are now considered incomplete without a garden. There is a growing realisation of the importance of flowers and plants in our lives. The growth of demand for flowers has been matched by the emergence of numerous women florists in any market.

Not only has the demand for flowers increased, there is also a demand for a flowery environment. Entrepreneurs like Divakar of Millennium Rose Garden, Yurembam has capitalised on this demand. Earlier it used to be available only in the World War II cemetery. Visiting the cemetery and reading the poignant tombstone inscriptions used to be one of my most memorable childhood past times .The interest was rekindled during my trips to the famous rose garden in Chandigarh.

This year I spent the evening of the Manipuri New year’s day in the Rose Garden as part of my better half’s academic exercise in tourism. It is one of the best examples as to which alternative use our land can be put to. Besides the roses, it exhibits a large number of indigenous flowers which have practically disappeared from our localities.

The nurseries of rose and other plants were impressive. On that day with the gate fee of Rs 20 per person, the garden would have easily earned Rs 20,000. The bird house was a hit with the children and there was a queue for the boats. Many more recreational facilities are coming up in the complex. It is creating jobs for the local people inside and outside the garden.

However, the best part of our visit was the amazingly candid interaction with Padmashri Nabakishore, father of Divakar, who was watching the visitors. He must be one of the happiest persons in the world. He lived upto his reputation by offering a ten rupee note to the son of my friend. It was like meeting a friend after a long time. When we approached, the garden we came across fallow paddy fields.

It will take only a few years before these fields also would become gardens on their own or part of the Millennium Rose garden. We are told that many more such gardens have come up. There is always a stage when the law of diminishing returns would start operating. We need not worry because an entrepreneur is always ready for such challenge. More remunerative use of land will emerge.

The moral of the story is land under paddy cultivation should be protected only by raising the productivity of paddy. Paddy cultivation should be made the most remunerative occupation through application of science and technology. Otherwise, it would be unethical to ask our farmers to bear the burden of underdevelopment for so long.

This should not be left to the farmers alone. Research institutes and civil society organisations should collaborate to initiate another revolution in paddy. Agriculture Department has a number of schemes for farmers which need to be implemented properly. Proper implementation of such schemes will enable us to come up with better schemes.

Civil society organisations should ensure that the benefits actually accrue to the intended beneficiaries. Perfection has never been a one shot affair. After a hundred misses, you hit the target and that provides the basis for further progress.