More than 10,000 ha of paddy fields lying waste

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Jul 15: More than 10,000 hectares of paddy land in Bishnupur district may lay waste again this year if farmers are denied entry by Central security forces, said farmers' community.
The more than 10,000 hectares of paddy land lying idle since May 2023 spread across Nambol, Oinam Leimram, Irengbam, Kumbi, Wangoo, Sagang Napat, Phougakchao Ikhai, Torbung Bangla, Tera Khongsangbi, Tronglaobi, Naranseina, Sunusiphai and Bishnupur High Canal, including areas near the foothills of Langjing Manbi Hill Range and Thangjing Hill Range.
Designated as sensitive and vulnerable areas, access to these paddy fields are denied by Central security forces deployed in the areas "for security reasons".
Moirang Kendra Apunba Loumi Shinmi Lup leader Laishangbam Manglem said denying access to the paddy fields in the name of maintaining peace has caused huge losses to the farmers.
Unable to tend to their farms since May 2023, many have lost their livelihoods. The owners of the paddy land lying waste include many internally displaced families, Manglem said.
Denying access to the paddy lands cannot be the only solution to maintain peace in the areas. Such a short term and short sighted arrangement  will only cause huge losses to the farmers and the State, he said.
Farmers may be allowed to till their land under strong security measures. If no practical arrangement is made to allow agricultural activities in these paddy lands by providing adequate security, the State may soon stare at a famine-like situation, he added.
Manglem also stressed that the farmers have not been compensated adequately for the losses they have suffered since 2023.
The farmers, affected by the current conflict and natural calamities, have been urging the Government to compensate them for their losses since 2023, he said.
While some have been compensated for the year 2023, many are still awaiting the release of the pending compensation, Manglem said.
Despite repeated appeals, compensations for 2024, 2025, and 2026 have not been given or sanctioned, he added.
While releasing the pending compensations, the Government should also raise the amount fixed for tenant farmers and landowners to suit rising cost of living, Manglem said.
He said the current rate of compensation for a tenant farmer is fixed at Rs 17,500 and that of the land owner is Rs 21,000.
Further in May 2024, severe hailstorms devastated hundreds of acres of crops and houses and Rs 153 crore was sanctioned for relief and compensation. "However not a single rupee from the sanctioned amount reached the victims," Manglem claimed.
Salam Thoinu, a member of the Loumi Lup, said, unable to tend to their farms, many men have turned to taking up odd jobs and women have been forced to work as household help to run their families.
To restore their lives and livelihood, the Government must allow farmers to tend their farms under the protection of the security forces, she said.
Security forces should not deny farmers access to their land. Instead they should provide protection to the farmers while they till the land and cultivate, Thoinu said.
In Kuki areas, farmers are allowed to work under security protection. But in the valley, farmers are being denied access to their livelihoods, she said.
Meanwhile, in a positive development, some farmers have been allowed to enter their paddy lands south of Tronglaobi Maning Ching Canal after more than three years.
A farmer of the area said he found his fields overtaken by weeds and invasive grasses.
Weeding the fields, the farmer said he is hopeful that he will be able to continue work in the field and cultivate paddy this season. The Government should deploy adequate security forces, enough to protect farmers when they till their lands, he said.