Rain pushes Manipur farmers to starvation brink

Imphal, Oct. 15 : Farmers in Manipur were initially happy when the rains began early this year to enable early cultivation.

However, they might face starvation next year, as vast tracts of paddy crop have been damaged extensively in the three valley districts of Manipur because of flash floods caused by heavy rain.

The flash floods caused by the overflow or breach of riverbanks in the valley on Saturday submerged paddy fields in Imphal East, Bishnupur and Thoubal districts. Imphal West was spared.

The agriculture department is yet to estimate the extent of damage and its probable effect on the annual rice production.

Officials at the department said the floods caused havoc in the fields in three of the four valley districts.

“We have sought detailed reports on the extent of damage from the district agriculture officers. The reports will reach the head office soon. We have received information that the damage was immense,” agriculture department director L. Palandro Singh told The Telegraph.

The official predicted that the floods would severely affect rice production this harvesting season and farmers would have to face hard times.

Five days after the floods, vast tracts of standing paddy crops were still under water.

The worst affected district is Imphal East where almost all the paddy fields are submerged totally.

“In my constituency, Thongju (Imphal East) alone, more than 1,000 hectares of paddy fields have been submerged. More than 3,000 farming families have been affected,” deputy chairman of the state planning board Bijoy Koijam, who represented this constituency, told The Telegraph.

Koijam yesterday toured his constituency to distribute relief material to the affected people and assess the damage.

The floods came at a time when the rice started ripening and experts say that once under water at this stage, there was no chance of harvesting.

“I have half-a-hectare of paddy field. It is still under water. There will not be any harvest this year. My family will starve next year. Agriculture is our main source of livelihood,” Kangjam Tolen, a farmer from Uchiwa of Imphal East, said.

The situation is similar in most parts of Imphal East, Bishnupur and Thoubal districts.

“My family is ruined. I don’t know what to say or to do,” said Chabungbam Mangijao, another farmer from Thoubal district.

The state has a total paddy cultivable area of 233, 400 hectares. The average annual production is 421 metric tonnes. Approximately, 30 per cent of the crop was damaged.

The director said the farmers could have recovered the loss if they had joined the cross-insurance scheme.

A majority of the farmers were yet to join the scheme, he added.

The agriculture department is preparing for the pre-kharif crops. “Seeds have begun arriving and we will be focusing fully on the pre-kharif paddy cultivation,” the director said.