Exporting Chak-Hao for affluent, importing food-grain for commoners
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: August 14, 2021 -

AMID the voices of distress and dissent of the farmers over reported shortage of fertiliser supply during the prime paddy plantation season, which has been forcing the agriculture minister and department officials to scurry from one place to another to mollify the food producers; chief minister N Biren flagging off a consignment of 1 metric tonne (MT) of organic Chak-Hao (black rice) for people of the affluent European countries underscores that with the right material and technical support the state's farmers are willing to contribute their mite in the development of agriculture and allied sectors.

Though export of only one MT of the highly nutritious black rice variety of Manipur is not compatible with the state's real potential to increase the yield, credit for the periodical despatch of Chak-Hao to Indian cities and abroad testifies that the Manipur Organic Mission Agency (MOMA) has the expertise to transform the state into a major producer of the much sought after food item.

In view of the chief minister stressing the need for quantity and quality increase in production of indigenous varieties of rice, the onus is on MOMA, especially the agriculture department to ensure that the farmers do what they are known for rather than staging protests and hunger strike over the department's lackadaisical functioning.

Similar to CM Biren stating that Chak-Hao has received the Geographical Indication (CI) tag and it has high demands from different parts of the country, there are also substantial numbers of people in the adjoining states as well as the local population who prefer various other varieties of the local rice but the sub-par annual yield is making only the elite class of the society relish the taste compared to majority of the people consuming the government controlled cheaper and blander rice varieties.

Such disparity between the demand and supply corroborates that there are some valid reasons behind outcries of the state's farmers during every paddy plantation season.

While export of Chak-Hao for the first time to Europe is a remarkable achievement of the state, which has sadly been importing huge quantities of rice cultivated by farmers of central and northern Indian states, the success stories of the Chak-Hao farmers should make MOMA and its parent Agriculture Department realise that with viable irrigation network and timely technical assistance Manipur would not need to import the staple food item.

As root cause for the gradual decline in production of the local rice varieties compared to the increasing demand is absence of irrigation network and perennial dependence on the seasonal rainfall, emphasis of the agriculture department should be towards purposeful utilisation of the existing sources of water so as to ensure production of the food-grains to the optimum.

In case there is adequate availability of water round the year then it is imminent that the farmers will take up plantation of different food and cash crops, including Chak-Hao, in a vigorous manner instead of the current practice of cultivating paddy rice and leaving their field barren for months.

With research papers and studies stating that black rice are relatively stress tolerant and disease resistant and require less care and energy inputs, in addition to its usage for different religio-cultural feasts and rituals of the majority community, it is but natural that there would be consistent demand for Chak-Hao. Owing to its higher nutraceutical properties such as antioxidant, anti-carcinogenic, fibre, vitamin and mineral contents, there should be no worry for MOMA over exporting the black rice.

However, it is desired that apart from focusing on production of organic crops and black rice, MOMA takes advantage of its reputation as a serious change-maker and mounts pressure on its parent department to bring visible changes in the agricultural and horticultural sectors so that the state could become self-reliant in food production.