Agriculture and trading: Amid violence, backbone of Manipur's economy takes a blow

The recent violence in Manipur have had a significant impact on the state's economy. The violence has led to the closure of shops, businesses, schools, and other institutions, and also disrupted transportation and communication networks. This hit the growing agrarian sector in Manipur, which is considered the backbone of the state economy.

Shanta Nahakpam, the secretary of the Economic and Resource Department Organisation in Imphal told India Today that modes of transportation have been completely dysfunctional since the beginning of the violence.

"In Manipur, the economy is driven by agri-based trading. But in the past three months, agriculture has taken a bad beating. Many people have left their houses and trading has been hugely impacted,” Nahakpam said.

He said that drivers are not ready to ferry goods from and to Churachandpur, which was the hotspot of recent violence.

“We can't move goods to Churachandpur and commodities from Churachandpur are not coming to Imphal. Drivers are unwilling to move it. The simple hike of the conveyance rate from Rs 4 to Rs 7 has impacted a lot on the prices. Manipur is an agrarian state,” Nahakpam said.

When the agriculture and agri-based businesses were reviving from the impact of the Covid pandemic, violence hit the state. The central government had invested around 200 crore in organic natural farming in Manipur, Nahakpam noted.

"The Government of India had invested crores in the development of organic farming, which happens mostly in the hills. It began 2016 and production and cash flow went well during the pandemic,” Nahakpam told India Today.

The export of agricultural products, mainly pineapple, ginger and green chillies, was a key economic driver in the state. This has also been stopped due to the violence.

"We used to do export business of ginger worth Rs 20 crores before the pandemic era. We were recovering from the loss incurred due to Covid and then this situation happened which completely destroyed trading. We are now at zero. No one is exporting anything from Manipur now" said Nahakpam.

According to the trade analyst, the violence created a 'buffer zone' on the land which was used for agricultural purposes. No one is going to harvest now. Plantation cultivation has also been affected.

The state saw more than Rs 200 crore business in 2022. But, 2023 gives no hope for the agricultural and trading business, Nahakpam noted. He fears that the agri business will fall below Rs 50 crores this year.