NERAMEC clarifies, says GI registration of Chak-hao will benefit State's farmers
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, September 27 2018: The North East Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation (NERAMEC) has conveyed that the intention to register the State's indigenous black rice (Chak-hao) into Geographical Indication (GI) is for the benefit of Chak-hao farmers only.

This was stated during a press meet held at Manipur Press Club today.

Claiming that the statement issued regarding the GI registration of Chak-hao was made by ACOAM Lup following some misunderstanding, NERAMEC officer in charge Mangsatabam Imo clarified that NERAMEC is a neither a private company nor an NGO but rather a Government enterprise, which functions under the administrative control of the DoNER Ministry.

He maintained that NERAMEC is undertaking initiatives to export the agricultural products, as marketing enterprise, from the North East States to the National and international markets.

Imo further stated that the Govt Corporation is searching for markets to export the agricultural and horticulture products so that the economies of the respective States are improved.

NERAMEC has been undertaking the project by giving proper selling price of the produce to the farmers, he added.

The best price for black rice at e-auction is not fixed by the Agriculture Department or NERAMEC but the proper price has been set by the farmers themselves, who worked hard to cultivate the indigenous crop, Imo said.

Some farmers even fix the price to Rs 90 per kg.

Imo further maintained that the products are exported to cities like Delhi, Kerala, Kolkata etc where the respective companies at these cities buy the item after proper bidding process.

NERAMEC, as a helping hand, is only facilitating the farmers, producers, companies and line departments, he claimed.

He informed that NERAMEC has facilitated the successfully GI registration of 10 different crops grown in the North East region including the Kachai lemon of Ukhrul district.

Clarifying the allegation of ACOAM Lup regarding the ownership of Chak-hao, Imo clarified that the statement was made owing to some misunderstandings between the two groups.

Stating that NERAMEC is not an alien body, Imo informed that the Chak-hao after getting GI registration will be handed over to the State Govt and the farmers/producers as the rightful owners He said that NERAMEC will not force the farmers to take part in the said initiative while assuring that there will be no incident where NERAMEC will be robbing them off of their profit.

Imo reiterated that the corporation 'is only facilitating the process of getting GI registration and will not deprive the farmers of their rightful shares.

The situation does not change even if any other party has the desire/have the knowledge to get GI registration, he added.

Meanwhile, S Radhapyari, Agriculture Department Nodal officer as well as representative of Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North East Region (MOVCD-NER) stated that a joint meeting with farmers, producers and four companies was held regarding an enquiry about undertaking GI registration by the farmers themselves.

The meeting also discussed to rename the produce as Manipur Chak-hao instead of black aromatic rice, he added.

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