Manipur Industry Minister Nemcha Kipgen distributed horticulture crops as an alternative for poppy cultivation at Kangpokpi town on Monday.
Kipgen, who is also the local MLA distributed the crops under, ‘Cultivation of Horticulture Crops as an alternative for Poppy Cultivation in Hill Areas’, an new scheme launched recently by the state government for the alternative livelihood of all the farming community in general and the illegal poppy farmers in particular.
She distributed 400 saplings of litchi, 15 bags of ginger, 80 bags of turmeric, 1,500 saplings of lemon, and 5,000 saplings of pineapple to as many as 60 beneficiaries’ villages under Kangpokpi assembly constituency in the presence of deputy director, Horticulture and Soil Conservation, Kangpokpi P Pramo Devi.
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Addressing the farmers before distributing the Horticulture crops, she said that the state government under the leadership of Chief Mminister N Biren Singh had taken up a serious war-footing against illegal poppy cultivation in the hill areas and its impact on the people of the state.
She said that to combat the menace of illegal poppy cultivation which is a social problem, the government had a multi-pronged approach through inter-departmental efforts to provide alternative livelihood to the illegal poppy farmers who had agreed to stop illegal cultivation with a sustainable integrated farming system.
She motivated the farmers to not look back on their past illegal cultivation but embark wholeheartedly with a strong determination on the alternative livelihood under the innovative new scheme of the government in the larger interest of better Manipur's future.
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She also assured the farming community that in consultation with the chief minister and the authority concerned, the lists of crops, seeds, and vegetables preferred by the farmers as an alternative livelihood will be provided.
The farming community conveyed their desire to cultivate Kachai lemon, low chilling apple, large cardamom, and cashew, as well and submitted lists of crops, seeds, and vegetables to the minister which they preferred to cultivate.
The minister said that the lists would be sent to the authorities concerned so that they can be arranged for distribution in the second phase
