IMPHAL, June 25: Construction of business properties like brick fields, LPG godowns on agricultural land is highly deplorable and will adversely affect the farmers of the State in the long run, said a member of the Village Women Coordinating Committee Prabha during a one day consultation on climate change and its impact on Agriculture.
The consultation was jointly organised by the North East Dialogue Forum, Samaritan Resource Centre, New Life Foundation, Applied Bio-Tech Farmer Club and Village Women Coordinating Committee at the Manipur Press Club.
Continuing to share her concern on the issue, she said the large scale penetration of industrialization into agricultural land has hugely affected agricultural yield of the State.
The government, she said, should sponsor awareness programmes on the issue for the welfare of the farmers and to help increase in productivity.
She continued the first victims to be affected financially by the impact of climate change are the farmers as their productivity largely depend on climates.
The recent climate change impact of rain scarcity and the lack of interest shown by the government on the issue have made many a farmer sell off their agricultural lands to businessman, she continued.
Head of Department, Animal Science, Central Agriculture University prof M Dhaneshor Singh speaking as a resource person called upon all to work towards improving forest cover.
He continued although there has been rainfall in both Assam and Myanmar, there has been less rainfall in Manipur because a decrease in the presence of oxygen in the air just above Manipur has been observed because of widespread deforestation.
Climate change is natural, but the degree of change depends on human behavior, he observed.
A massive volcano eruption in Mexico in 1991 had increase the global temperature by 4 to 4.6 degree Celsius, he observed.
Dhaneshor also said that there is an alternative to Jhum cultivation.
He continued works undertaken under the MGNREGS should be more associated with construction of rain water harvesting reservoirs or else there is a high chance of famine in the State in the near future.
Meanwhile, several resolutions were also passed during the programme.
The resolutions include pressuring the State Government to implement the Manipur State action plan on climate change, to stop construction of new mega dams but instead to maintain the existing dams, to introduce short term crop as an alternative, to take up immediate measures of the present cultivation crisis, to formulate long term and sustainable polity to address the imminent climate change crisis and to remove Reduce Emission from Deforestation and Destruction (REDD+) from SAPCC and if so, the free prior and inform consent from the community should be sought.