Limalenden Longkumer
Mokokchung | July 2
The farmers of Mongsenyimti village, Mokokchung, are wearing smiling faces, thanks to the department of Horticulture, Government of Nagaland. The department had established in the year 2005-06 its Alitera Horticulture Model Project at Mongsenyimti village. The project is so far a success, the chief reason for which according to department officials is because of the people’s participation.
Although the focus crop of the model project is orange, the department is also encouraging farmers to cultivate other crops like banana, passion fruit, turmeric and ginger as well as paddy for inter-cropping. Since orange plantations take seven years to mature for harvest, this inter-cropping of supplementary fast-growing crops with the focus crop during the gestation period reduces the problem of seasonal unemployment among the farmers and also ensures optimal utilization of land, labour and capital.
The idea of inter-cropping is already paying dividends to the farmers. “I have sold 200 Kgs of passion fruit at the rate of Rs.5 per Kg.,” said S.Chuba, a beneficiary of the project while talking to a visiting team of media persons.
The project covers a compact area of roughly 100 acres with a total of ninety-two households involved.
The farmers told the visiting media persons and department officials led by Watienla, Deputy Director, Department of Horticulture, that they have produced and sold bananas worth Rs.60,000/- in the local market alone during the first year of the project, 2006. Sentitongzuk, also a farmer, expressed gratitude to the department for initiating the project and said that they have also sold 5,000 Kgs of turmeric at the rate of Rs.5 per Kg, and seven tons of passion fruit sold at the rate of Rs.5 per Kg. An estimated return of Rs.3 lakhs was generated from the produces of the model project last year, the farmers claimed. The visiting team was also told by the farmers that they are anticipating a return of more than Rs.4 lakhs from the sales of passion fruits alone this year.
However, the farmers expressed concern over the lack of proper marketing channel to dispose their produces. They lamented that they fear if their produces will be wasted like it happened last year with their ginger produce. A farmer, Imnatangit, disclosed that a total of 20,000 Kgs. of ginger produced by the farmers of Mongsenyimti last year are still lying waste owing to lack of market.
The Alitera Horticulture Model Project is so far a success story to tell for the Department of Horticulture. In the words of the Project In-charge, Sungkalemba, the farmers have so far planted more than 20,000 orange saplings in their farms. In seven years’ time, Mongsenyimti alone will be producing an estimated 3,500 metric tons of orange annually. The only question that remains is if proper marketing channels for the farmers to dispose their horticultural produces will be developed by then.
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