Manipur Unrest has Caused Loss to Organic Produce Worth More Than ₹100 Crore
Nursery Today Desk
New Delhi: The ongoing unrest in Manipur that started in early May has led to the damage of organic produce worth more than ₹100 crores. Dr. K Devdutta Sharma, Project Director of Manipur Organic Mission Agency (MOMA) who operates under the state’s horticulture department to promote organic farming in the state and expand chemical-free organic zones in Manipur, said, “The ongoing situation in the state has severely hit the production of organic produce and its subsequent marketing processes.”
Pineapple (both kew and queen), ginger, turmeric and king chillies are among the most affected state’s seasonal organic produce. Devdutta added, “In fact, during the past few years, we have been exporting organic pineapple at a rate of at least 1 to 2 metric tones (MT) per day, or 300 to 400 MT yearly. Similar to that, we annually sold 400 MT of organic turmeric and 200 MT of organic ginger. However, during this unrest, we couldn’t make it in this peak season.”
UAE, Nepal, Qatar, Maldives, USA, Bhutan, Belgium, Iran, Bahrain and Oman are the top ten countries where India’s pineapple is exported and pineapple production in Manipur has a 7.5% share in the country’s total production. With a production of 134.82 MT in 2020-21, Manipur ranks sixth in pineapple production.
“We have a plan to buy dry organic ginger from registered growers in the Pherzawl district and export it outside the state. The senior member of the horticulture department complained, “But we cannot do that right now.
Communities that practice organic farming are actively supported by the state’s agricultural, horticulture, veterinary, and animal husbandry departments as well as research institutions including Central Agricultural University and the ICAR Manipur Center. Currently, organic farming is practiced over 37,500 hectares of agricultural land under the MOMA.
In the past six years, 200 crores worth of organic items have been sold. 30 crore of these products were sold outside the state, and 1.5 crore of these products were exported.
