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Our Correspondent
Imphal, April 13 (EMN): Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Wednesday appealed to farmers for a gradual shift towards organic farming from chemical fertilisers for a healthier society.
Addressing the farmers’ meet-cum-interaction programme at City Convention Centre, Biren Singh also said that a farmers’ cell should be set up by the department on the lines of “CM da haisi” with toll-free phone numbers, where a dedicated set of officials and staff will receive grievances from the farmers and act to resolve them. He said this cell will help in narrowing the gap between the officials and the farmers.
Explaining the importance of the agriculture sector, Biren Singh said that today, the Prime Minister’s special focus on the agriculture sector is to become self-reliant.
Hinting that there was a lack of transparency, coordination, and communication among the departments, Biren Singh stressed that government departments are all correlated and require coordination among them.
He said that a joint effort of the Agriculture, Forest, Minor Irrigation, Command Areas Development Authority, Horticulture, and Veterinary departments is necessary to develop agriculture in the State and to look into the grievances highlighted by the farmers. He also cited a few grievances highlighted by the farmers and appealed to government officials to bring transparency and to be sincere in their jobs.
Stating that the e-marketing system has made it easier to sell products, he said how to market the farmers’ products should be the responsibility of the officials.
In a speech, Agriculture minister Thongam Biswajit Singh assured the gathering that the department will try to work out to establish an organic produce market. He also expressed his desire to connect those who received training to go for Start-Up programmes for a sustainable livelihood.
During the meeting cum interaction programme, farmers from across the Manipur highlighted their grievances on various issues including lack of proper irrigation facilities, machineries, fertilisers, provision of seeds by the officials in time, provision of quality seeds, organic fertilizer, lack of awareness on crop insurance, among others.
The meeting-cum-interaction programme, organised by the directorate of Agriculture, government of Manipur was also attended by commissioner of Agriculture M Joy Singh, director of Agriculture, N Gojendro and experts.