In a grim development, farmers' hope of a good paddy harvest for the year have been turned upside down with 90 per cent of farmers in Ukhrul and Kamjong districts of Manipur incurred huge losses as change in climate pattern coupled with erratic rainfall pattern wreaked havoc in certain areas of the state.
Sharing her grievances, Asemphy Shimray, 55, a farmer from north of Ukhrul district lamented that her family harvested only 100 tins (local measuring unit) of paddy compared to last year’s 230 tins. “This is a huge setback for a paddy dependent farmer like me,” she lamented.
A mother of six siblings, Shimray, who toil in the paddy fields to farm the land, shares her grief telling that nothing is more painful for the hard working farmers than the crop failure.
“In addition to the total failure reported in my farm now, I am further burdened with another failure in my paddy field,” she added.
With the festive season fast approaching and everyone will be home for Christmas celebrations, what is there to celebrate when the crops are dying, Shimray said.
As per the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), this year's monsoon rain (June -September) is recorded at 745.4mm against the normal rain of 851.3mm (64 years mean value).
When Imphal Free Press interacted with the farmers of the district, several of them had a similar story to narrate. They said that they have suffered huge losses in both their farms and paddy fields putting their livelihood at risk. They also mentioned that there was erratic rainfall, decline in water sources and a long heat-wave in the region.
Speaking to the IFP one Rungshing Angkang, headman, Leishi village under Kamjong district said that out of the 70 households, majority of the farmers among them were reportedly found to have reduced their production by 40 to 50 per cent.
He continued that the quality of the soil has also changed drastically in recent years prompting farmers to use fertilisers as the yield saw sharp decline. Attacks by pests and insects have also increased, he stated.
One Yevizo Lohe, a farmer from Jessami village said that paddy production this year witnessed 40-50 percent reduction. “For paddy dependent poor farmers like me, the situation is similar to the ‘out of the fire into the frying pan’ situation,” he said.
Lohe made a fervent appeal to authorities concerned to intervene and redress the plight of the farmers who would soon have no food over their tables. Jessami borders Manipur's neighbouring state Nagaland.
In the meantime, taking due cognizance of the grim situation facing the farmers, when IFP enquired district agriculture officer, Ukhrul V Raingam whether there is any bailout plan or alternative remedies for the farmers to tide over the problem, he said that winter seeds have been already distributed to the affected farmers. Therefore, there are no such plans for now. He, however, assured that more arrangements will be provided in the rabi crop season.
It is worth mentioning that as per information culled from several affected farmers of the district, the farmers were not aware of alternative redressal measures initiated for them by the authorities.
