Manipur Agriculture Minister Th Biswajit on Friday gave assurance to farmers in the state that they will no longer face any shortages of fertilisers.
“There is more than 1 lakh stock of fertilisers in the state’s godown and every genuine farmer, acquiring patta or not, will be given the fertilisers after proper verification,” Biswajit said.
Biswajit was speaking to the media during the launch of Direct Beneficiary Transfer (DBT) to 7,000 registered farmers under phase III (2020-2023) Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region (MOVCDNER), Manipur, at his office chamber in New Secretariat, Imphal West.
The Minister also warned that legal action will be initiated against those found selling the fertilisers in black market along with the officials who are involved in such a scam and called on the farmers to inform the department if they witness such a scam.
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The minister, however, said that baseless allegations made against the department will not be entertained. Appropriate action will also be taken up against those who made baseless allegations, he cautioned.
Asserting that the GDP growth of a country would be brought through agricultural development, he stressed the need of various schemes and use of advanced technology to improve agricultural products.
He also pointed out the need of encouraging double and triple cropping, maintaining the natural cycle of crops such as rotating Kharif and Rabi crops and utilisation of underground water for high productivity.
Regarding the unavailability of market for agricultural products especially rice grains, he said the state can convey to the Centre to buy rice grains from the farmers of Manipur if the production of rice in the state increases.
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The minister said two firms had approached the state government at the ministerial level and are ready to sign an agreement to purchase any quantity of Chakhao rice from the state.
Chakhao farmers would benefit and the state’s economy would also be aided, he added.
The gross DBT amount for the 7,000 farmers is Rs 78,750,000 and the total amount of DBT per farmer is Rs 11,250.
According to Agriculture Commissioner M Joy Singh, the scheme was introduced to encourage sustainable organic farming to the farmers.
Singh stressed that the purpose of two-third of the assistance is for preparation of on-farms inputs such as creation of compost pits, vermin bed, liquid manure tanks, plants and bio-pesticides containers among others.
The remaining one-third of the assistance is for the purpose of purchasing bio-fertilisers and bio-pesticides among others, he added.
The function was also attended by director of Agriculture N Gojendro among other officials.
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