On Tuesday, June 15, Manipur CM N. Biren Singh unveiled eight different varieties of crops at The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Imphal.

Appearing as the Chief Guest for the inaugural session of the national virtual workshop on “Potential Crops of Northeast India: Prospects and Challenges” organised by ICAR NEH he launched the new varieties of rice, maize, brinjal, etc.

“I’m glad to have virtually released various new varieties of rice, maize, perilla & brinjal and also distribute various agro-inputs during the One-Day National Workshop on Potential Crops of North-East India organised by ICAR in presence of Hon’ble Agri Minister Shri @LukhoiOinam” – Biren Singh later tweeted.

Lukhoi Singh, state Agriculture Minister, and M. Joy Singh, Commissioner (Agriculture) also accompanied the chief minister in the inaugural session.

The newly introduced rice varieties are RC Maniphou 14, RC Maniphou 15 & RC Maniphou 16 were released. Mazie varieties RC Manichujak 1 and RC Manichujak and Two types of perilla,  introduced first time in the country- RC Manithoiding 1 and RC Manithoiding 2. RC Manikhamen 1, a brinjal variety was also introduced during the session.

Agricultural inputs were virtually distributed to 1000 farmers, along with 10 tonnes of RC Maniphou-13 certified seeds.

According to The Frontier Manipur report, Manipur CM addressed the key challenges faced by Manipur and other Northeastern regions. These include – low productivity, smallholdings, under-utilization of irrigation potential and inadequate infrastructure along the supply chain.

Dr. S.K. Chaudhari, Deputy Director General (NRM), ICAR, New Delhi, Dr. V.K. Mishra, Director, ICAR RC-NEH Region, Meghalaya, Dr. A.K. Tripathi, Director, ICAR-ATARI, Meghalaya, Dr. Lakshmi Kant, Director, Vivekananda Parvatiya Krishi Anusandhan Sansthan (VPKAS), Uttarakhand and Dr. Hanuman Lal Raiger, Co-ordinator, AICRN on Potential Crops, New Delhi also attended the workshop.