VKSA campaign continues amid inclement weather
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, June 02 2025: Defying heavy rainfall and emerging flood conditions, Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan (VKSA-2025) achieved a significant milestone on the fourth day Monday by reaching all 20 targeted villages across Manipur and engaging with over 4,000 farmers.

As per a release by ICAR-Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Imphal West, the nationwide pre-Kharif campaign, launched on May 29, aims to transform agriculture through scientific interventions.

Continuous rainfall triggered landslides, blocked highways (NH-37), and caused flooding in Imphal, Kakching, and Thoubal districts, with major rivers flowing at danger levels.

VKSA campaign continues amid inclement weather

In view of the evolving situation, campaign teams adapted by modifying routes, and deploying mobile units to navigate waterlogged areas.

Agricultural scientists conducted sessions at community halls and temporary shelters, disseminating flood-resilient technologies like composite fish culture, mushroom cultivation, and the new fish parasite vaccine 'CIFA Argu VAX-I', it said.

KVK also informed that awareness drives covered government schemes including Soil Health Cards, solar farming incentives, and disaster compensation.

Over 30 interactive scientist-farmer dialogues addressed localised challenges with ICAR Manipur Centre state nodal officer/HORC Dr Ch Basudha Devi highlighting the acceleration of climate-smart agriculture.

Despite IMD red alerts, district task forces ensured zero schedule disruption, prioritising flood-prone areas.

The Abhiyan will continue until June 12, focusing on flood recovery and monsoon-ready farming, with progress tracked via KVKs in all the districts, it said.

Meanwhile, ICAR-KVK, Tamenglong continued to engage with the farmers of the Noney/Tamenglong districts as part of the nationwide VKSA.

According to KVK, Tamenglong release, despite the adverse weather conditions and natural disasters such as landslides and heavy rainfall, three teams managed to reach 27 villages, engaging over 1,854 farmers including 878 females, within the first three days of the campaign in the two districts.

During the awareness campaign, the teams received cooperation from farmers and local villages, successfully mobilising the farmers to reach the unreached populations.

The teams are also collecting farmer innovations data and local farming issues to facilitate scientific interventions under the challenging terrains and harsh weather conditions in the district, it informed.