Imphal, April 08: The experiment conducted by the Agriculture Officer (Chemistry), Department of Agriculture, Government of Manipur under its Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Demonstration programme on cultivation of Potatoes at Ishikhapat has succeeded in producing 700 metric tonne of high quality Potatoes.

The experiment was conducted in collaboration with Social Alleviation for Human Resources and Environmental Management Organisation, Manipur (SEHREMOM), an NGO which had organised the farmers of the area to take up Potato cultivation on over 30 hectares of land.

The programme was launched in December 2006.Interacting with media-persons at Ishikhapat today, Agriculture Officer (Chemistry) Ph Rajen, under whose overall supervision the experiment was successfully conducted said the main objective of the programme is to increase the vegetable products.

He informed that before the experiment was conducted at Ishikhapat, the soil of the land had been tested properly and as the result was positive, farmers of the area had been organised and necessary training given for cultivation of Potatoes.

Experts from Central Agricultural University, Iroisemba and Agriculture Department, Government of Manipur have also imparted the requisite technical know-how on use of fertiliser to the farmers during the training programme, he said.

Konjengbam Boba of Ishikha Awang Leikai, one of the farmers who had cultivated Potatoes under the said programme, said he had been cultivating Potatoes in his farm for the last 10 years but the yield had been never encouraging like this time.

The size of the Potato yielded are also bigger that there are Potatoes weighing one kilogram just by one or two pieces.

Under the said experiment, Boba informed that he had taken up cultivation of Potatoes in one Pari of his agricultural land and 49 bags of Potato seeds have been used for the purpose.

But on harvesting just a Sangam of the land for the first time, he yielded 70 sacks of Potatoes, thus the total yield from his land is somewhere around 250 to 280 sacks of Potatoes.

Boba, who used to plant paddy on his land before concentrating on cultivation of Potatoes, further informed that his land yielded at the most 5 to 6 bags of Paddy from one Sangam.

For his change of fortune, Boba expressed gratitude to the Agriculture Officer and members of SEHREMOM for their assistance.

Recounting the success story, SEHREMOM chairman Y Kiran disclosed 80 metric tonne of Potato seeds have been procured from the Horticulture and Soil Conservation and other requirement from the market for distributing among the farmers.

Out of the total yield of around 700 metric tonne of Potatoes, around 100 metric tonne would be preserved as seeds for the next cultivation and the remaining would be kept in the store house of the organisation for the marketing benefit of the farmers, he said.

At the time of taking up the cultivation, the Potato seeds had been provided to the farmers without taking any charge.

As the Potatoes have been harvested, the amount would be recovered from the farmers, Kiran said. Buoyed by the success of the experiment which is billed as first of its kind in Manipur, Kiran further informed that henceforth necessary measures would be taken up for arranging drainage system with assistance from the side of the Government so that double-cropping could be practised.

An official of the Horticulture and Soil Conservation Department hinted that if SEHREMOM succeeded in storing the Potato seeds properly , the Department would consider procuring of its necessary Potato seeds from the organisation in future.

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