Farmers in the north of Ukhrul district in Manipur who banked on climate-resilient millet crops began their second phase of harvest on a high mode with growers expecting surplus yields from their hard labour.
The first phase was harvested in May, and most farmers who had planted this highly nutritious cereal crop in specific areas had romped home more than they expected.
Against the backdrop of inclement weather and fast-changing climatic phenomenon coupled with degradation of soil fertility and water stresses posing a serious threat on the farming sector and livelihood, the Director of Environment and Climate Change, Government of Manipur has taken a series of initiatives on this count with special emphasis on millets.
Taking a cue from this beneficial effort made by the climate change cell, farmers in Manipur shifted their attention towards millets, which were extensively cultivated in the last decades. However, this farming practice was sidelined despite its health benefits due to ignorance and fear of large-scale forest clearance.
With different districts of the state facing shortages of food, it has become all the more important to introduce climate-resilient crops.
Speaking to the Imphal Free Press, Thingreiphy Lungharwoshi, president, Tangkhul Shanao Long (TSL) urged farmers to go for the millet crop which provides immense health benefits.
The TSL had provided millet seeds to farmers with the sole intent to revive agriculture. The women’s league, in its bid to introduce climate-resilient crops, had made it compulsory for its members to plant skosh, passion fruit, and chop tears as part of its initiative to introduce more climate-resilient crops.
According to Thingreiphi, millet being a resilient crop could be sowed anytime. “Local knowledge and today’s technology must be amalgamated for the simple reason that it is a traditional crop. Farmers know better,” she said, focusing on the climate change perspective.
The TSL president also called for a robust delivery system to ensure that no farmers’ crops rot due to a lack of better facilities.
One K Ngampam, 60, known for farming different varieties of vegetables and fruit species at his farm, was one of the few farmers from north of Ukhrul who reaped the benefits of millet crops through the initiative of the concerned department with ‘Climate Change Fellowship’ for state media being one of its outreach missions to connect the farmers of the state.
He was also into piggery and fishery farming.
Sharing exclusively to the Imphal Free Press, he said that planting millet is a boon for farmers because surplus yield is assured and no labour is wasted, unlike paddy.
“I should have planted more; however, with fewer farmers showing interest, attacks by birds were widely reported. Had more farmers shown interest, damage would be less,” Ngampam stated, urging more cultivators to plant this crop given its benefits.
He harvested 20 tins (a local measuring unit) which he was not expecting due to attacks on crops by birds.
A scientist familiar with these cereal crops said that millets are small-grained, annual, all-season cereals that can be cultivated round the year but are “best suited during the warm season,” belonging to the grass family.
It is also called Nutri-cereals as they provide most of the nutrients required for the normal functioning of the human body.
Millet is a climate-resilient and dry land cereal. They have low requirements for water and fertility when compared to other popular cereals like paddy, maize, and wheat. They are highly tolerant to drought and other extreme conditions.
It is also referred to as ‘smart food for the future’ with high calcium, Zn, Fe, and low glycemic livelihood.
