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Dimapur, Aug. 11 (EMN): Toka Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd. (MPCS) has announced a fresh scheme for farmers, cooperatives and entrepreneurs who are willing to cultivate aromatic or medicinal plants.
The Secretary and Managing Director of Toka MPCS, K Kathi Chishi, informed on Wednesday that it would provide free seeds, saplings and necessary processing units as well as guarantee to buy back under the scheme which was launched in collaboration with Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP) of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
He maintained that the idea of the scheme was not only to create awareness among the public but also to give them economic viable options. Farmers in Nagaland are looked down by the citizens unlike in other countries, and therefore “we need to encourage our farmers and their economy”, he added.
Chishi, who won the national award for best mentor/entrepreneur at the recently held national award in Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojna (PMVDY) scheme under the ministry of Tribal Affairs, also stated that they couldn’t promise to solve unemployment issue through the initiative (new scheme) but said “we need to create a lot of entrepreneurs”.
He said that villagers who have lands should utilise it.
He went on to inform that interested individuals and parties could contact designated executive of Toka MPCS any time during the office working days, adding that prospective beneficiaries have to provide details like address and location where they would like to cultivate “because the crop has been strategically designed according to the physical and climatic condition, and seeds and saplings will be provided accordingly”.
The managing director also expressed gratitude to the government of Nagaland for giving them the opportunity to work under the government scheme for entrepreneurship and cluster development.
Speaking about Toka MPCS, which also won the national award for best innovative product, he said that they cultivate lemon grass of about 70 acres of land, and some of the products they manufacture include lemon tea, car wash liquid, dish wash liquid and detergent.
He stated that due to the high demand from outside the state, they have not been able to sell in the state, but were trying to scale up the production.
They also produce gooseberry wine once a year but everything is pre-ordered from outside the state, it was informed.
The managing director of Toka MPCS said that they find difficult to increase production due to issues like power supply and machines, citing how machineries had to work 12 hours a day without electricity failure.
He shared that they were trying to minimise power usage by using traditional methodology for distillation in production of aromatic and essential components from lemon grass, which is why they weren’t able to produce in large scale.
However, he assured that they were now ready to increase production and compete in the market by pricing reasonably so that every household could buy their products.
The managing director of Marcofed Ltd., T Vikuto Zhimo, also congratulated Toka MPCS, the executing partner for PMVDY scheme under Marcofed Ltd. and Kathi Chishi and for winning national award in PMVDY scheme. He further congratulated Youth Net VDVK for winning three Van Dhan Awards at state level.