Special guest Vibeilietuo Kets and others during 1st Naga Mircha festival at Seiyhama village on September 10. (Morung Photo)
1st Naga Mircha festival at Seiyhama village
Chizokho Vero
Seiyhama | September 10
Jubilant Naga Mircha growers of Seiyhama village today shared their success story of Naga Mircha cultivation which acts as an engine of boosting the village economy.
Last year, this village reported a total income of Rs 27 lakh through Naga Mircha cultivation and are expecting nearly Rs 1 crore this year.
This was revealed during the 1st Naga Mircha festival 2022 at Seiyhama village, organized by Seiyhama Village Council, Seiyhama Naga Mircha Growers and sponsored by Horticulture department, Government of Nagaland.
Seiyhama lies 45 kms away from Nagaland’s state capital Kohima.
One good thing is that many graduate and post graduate students have also taken up Naga Mircha cultivation, and are doing a brisk business, said the festival’s organizing committee convenor Lhoulalie Zumu.
In one way, he said, such steps translate into a lot of self-employment opportunities as the job avenue in the government sector has reached a saturation point in the state.
Out of 361 total households in the village, 200 households cultivate Naga Mircha at Seiyhama.
Each household is expected to earn a minimum income of Rs 60,000 to Rs 70,000 and the larger scale cultivators are expected to get nearly Rs 4 to Rs 5 lakh this year, he maintained.
Income through Naga Mircha cultivation helped support the children education and sustainable livelihood, Zumu said.
Zumu thanked the state government, particularly, horticulture and agriculture departments for assisting the Naga Mircha growers and enable the villagers to land a significant milestone thus far.
Seiyhama Village Council has awarded certificate of appreciation to Duolhoulie Zumi for contributing highest product of Naga Mircha at the festival; Zasituo Thevo for highest production of Naga Mircha; Atu Thevo for cultivating largest area of Naga Mircha; and Mengubeio Metha for harvesting the largest Naga Mircha.
Earlier, Seiyhama Village GB Thinuonei-o Thevo delivered welcome address while vote of thanks was proposed by organizing committee co-ordinator Lilly Metha.
Focus on value-added products
Gracing the occasion as the special guest, Vibeilietuo Kets, president Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), 11th Northern Angami-II Assembly Constituency conveyed greetings from Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio to Seiyhama villagers for their active engagement with Naga Mircha cultivation.
Seiyhama also falls under 11th Northern Angami-II A/C, the Chief Minister’s home constituency.
Kets called upon the Naga Mircha growers to focus on value-added products and also sell the produces at affordable price as far as possible to sustain the business.
Stating that Seiyhama is quite suitable for Naga Mircha cultivation, he called for expansion of their activity to triple production.
Go deeper for marketing beyond the state, he said and maintained that they have potential to become resourceful fellow towards promotion of Naga Mircha in the state.
Meanwhile, he encouraged the villagers to come forward and apply the scheme of Chief Minister’s Micro Finance Initiative, which was launched by Government of Nagaland to encourage credit for carrying out economic activities.
Under this scheme, subsidy and interest subvention against identified activities in the agri & allied sector including processing units, MSME etc., will be provided to eligible beneficiaries like farmers, entrepreneurs, unemployed youth, SHGs, farmers’ producers organization, company and cooperative societies.
Prospects of horticulture in Nagaland
Also speaking on the occasion, S Senka Jamir, District Horticulture Officer, Kohima lauded the growers of Seiyhama village for making a good headway on the map of Naga Mircha cultivation in Nagaland.
He encouraged them to vigorously pursue their innovative way of cultivation, assuring that the department will extend trainings and technical support to take the production to a larger scale.
He informed that Botsa block is a focus area of DHO Kohima for cultivation of Naga Mircha in Kohima district, wherein Seiyhama also falls under this block.
Viewing the feasibility, he said, the department is targeting about 100 hectares for the purpose.
He maintained that diverse agro-climatic conditions in Nagaland ensure production of all types of fresh fruits, vegetables, medicinal plants, spices etc in different parts of the state.
He said that health consciousness among people is increasing and the demand for fruits and vegetables appear “very high.”
“The production of horticultural commodities is far less as compared to the existing demand in the state/country. So, there is a vast scope to produce more horticultural crops,” he said.
Horticulture production in India has almost doubled from 146 million tons in 2019-2020 to 341.63 million tons in 2021-22, he said adding around 700,000 families are, in one way or another, involved in the horticulture sector in India.
