IMPHAL, January 14: Five American students from Yale University are touring the State to study agriculture and horticulture production here.
As part of their visit, the students today made a tour of Bishnupur district and interacted with farmers.
The team will also visit Senapati tomorrow and visit the KVK Henbung and other agricultural areas of the district as part of their study purpose.
During a brief interaction with Horticulture director K Kipgen at his Sanjenthong office in the presence of media persons, the students suggested proper installation of cold storage with solar power for regular and low cost power supply.
One of the students, Farah commented that farmers of the State are most cooperative and helpful and the State could set a good example for other North Eastern States as the region is cut off from the rest of nation in terms of connectivity.
Prior to the meeting, the director had said under the National Vegetable Initiative for Urban Cluster under the guidance of the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, government of India, two Farmers Producers Organisation were formed with each constituted by 1000 farmers.
As for Manipur, farmers of Imphal East and Thoubal have formed one FPO and those of Imphal West and Bishnupur form the other, he observed.
He elaborated the scheme was initially launched in 2013 as a nationwide programme, wherein the group of farmers were registered under the cooperative society, however, under the directive of the Central government the FPOs were registered under the Company Act from 2014.
According to the director, the most important agenda of formation of the FPO is to strike out the middlemen to sell their agricultural and horticultural products.
Elaborating further he said in the past the products were bought by the middlemen or the wholesalers and then resold to retailers as such the farmers used to get minimum profits from their own products.
The Centre at the same time is also mulling to introduce the Mission for Integrated Development for Horticulture under which four more FPOs will be constituted, he said.
