IMPHAL |  Manipur Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh has called for a renewed focus on agriculture to revive the state’s crisis-hit economy, urging officials and farmers to increase productivity through double cropping, organic cultivation and improved market access.

Addressing the PM Kisan Utsav Diwas programme at the Manipur State Film Development Society in Imphal on October 30, Singh said agriculture remained one of the strongest pillars of the state’s economy and could generate income and support livelihoods amid the ongoing crisis.

He noted that the economic disruption had affected revenue sources, including GST collections, while daily wage earners and people dependent on daily livelihoods continued to face hardships. Singh said agriculture, horticulture, handloom, handicrafts and tourism had traditionally supported Manipur’s economy, but collective efforts were now needed to strengthen these sectors.

Double cropping to increase farm productivity

The Chief Minister highlighted the need to promote double cropping, pointing out that many farmers continued to practise single-crop cultivation, leaving their fields unused for nearly six months. He asked the Agriculture Department to work towards enabling a second crop across agricultural areas in the state and acknowledged the Horticulture Department’s efforts in this direction.

Singh also urged officials and field-level workers to discharge their responsibilities with dedication to improve agricultural productivity and support farmers.

Organic farming and better market access

Emphasising the potential of organic cultivation, Singh said the Agriculture Department had covered 400 hectares under organic farming in the previous phase, with another 400 hectares targeted for the current year. He called for further expansion of organic farming to create additional economic opportunities for farmers.

The Chief Minister stressed that farmers adopting organic cultivation should receive better market access and remunerative prices, considering the additional time and effort involved.

He suggested establishing more dedicated outlets for organic products across Manipur to create reliable markets for locally produced goods and encourage more farmers to take up organic cultivation.

Financial assistance and farm inputs distributed

During the programme, financial assistance and agricultural inputs were distributed to farmers and farmer groups under various schemes.

The assistance included ?60,000 each for purchasing water pumps under the Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization, ?50,000 per unit for constructing vermicompost units under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, and ?1 lakh each for installing mini oil mills under the National Mission on Edible Oils-Oilseeds.

Mustard seeds and bee boxes were also distributed to farmer groups for the Rabi season, while pea and gram seeds were provided under the Pulse Mission. Subsidised knapsack sprayers were distributed under the agricultural mechanisation scheme.

According to the programme release, 14,740 farmers in Manipur received financial assistance amounting to ?2.95 crore on Friday. Centre releases ?18,690 crore under PM-KISAN

The programme was held alongside the nationwide release of the 24th instalment of the PM-KISAN Samman Nidhi scheme by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Gujarat. More than ?18,690 crore was released to over 9.34 crore farmers across the country.

The Prime Minister also dedicated 521 infrastructure units developed under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund and inaugurated 12 horticulture clusters. The Imphal programme was attended by MLAs, dignitaries, senior Agriculture Department officials and farmers from different parts of Manipur.