Speakers vouch promoting local foods to revive economy

Our Reporter
Dimapur, Feb. 12 (EMN): To tide over huge economic losses induced by the novel coronavirus pandemic in the past one year, various speakers have strongly voiced to revive the economy by promoting local foods at the national as well as at the international level.

Speakers have stated this during a seminar on ‘Re-locating food sustainability at grassroots level in the post-Covid specific situation of Nagaland state,’ jointly organised by the North East Institute of Social Science and Research (NEISSR) and Peace Channel and supported by NABARD, Nagaland Regional office, Dimapur, held at Don Bosco Institute of Development Leadership (DBIDL), Dimapur, on February 12.

Speaking on the seminar as a resource person, an associate of North East Initiative Development Agency (NEIDA), Khrolhiwe-u Tsuhah, stated that seed knowledge system is the pillar of the bio-diverse farming and diverse seed production. According to him, it is a process through which knowledge and skills development were accumulated through practice and collective effort of the farmers.

During an interaction, Tsuhah explained about seed sharing among the community wherein the women were considered as the custodians and harbinger for preservation of seeds. Tsuhah added that seeds are shared through community gene banks and explained that seed exchange and sharing during social, economic and natural shocks was the backbone of sustainable agriculture and seed diversity in Nagaland.

Tsuhah has emphasised on the importance of Naga traditional seed vault of genetic diversity which are locally made availability such as bamboo baskets, dry gourd shell and hollow bamboo and many more. While touching upon the significance of indigenous seed preservation systems which are climate resilient, he urged the gathering to give importance in order to promote and safeguard the traditional knowledge.

Tsuhah also stressed on the need to legislate policy in order to fight ecological imbalance and also promote women farmers’ contribution towards conserving the environment.

Tsuhah further urged the gathering to support and strengthen the existing community seed banks and scale up across the state to revive the traditional social seed networks before the knowledge and practice is eroded.

Speaking on the occasion as a resource person, development consultant, Amba  Jamir touched upon the topic on prospects and challenges of ‘food for all’ by 2025 post Covid in the context of Nagaland. He added that the state government has set a target to achieve food security by 2025.

Jamir informed that the state government has three seeds farms namely at Merapani for paddy fields and other crop, cereals, pulses, oilseeds and spices seeds, while the others are at Tizit and Helipong.

Jamir also explained about the challenges faced by the farmers. In order to improve their economic conditions, Jamir has encouraged the farmer to adopted modern technology in order to enhance their productivity and find markets to sell their products.