In this final part of his four-part series, Ambassador Gautam Mukhopadhaya moves beyond ecological farming to explore the critical support systems needed to sustain it in Manipur’s Sadar Hills—environmental protection, local agri-processing, community participation, strategic planning, and financial support. He argues that without these, the promise of sustainable agriculture will remain incomplete. Drawing on lessons from conflict and environmental stress, he calls for a holistic movement to not just return to nature, but to actively protect, regenerate, and empower it—socially, economically, and institutionally.
By Gautam Mukhopadhaya
JULY 21, 2025: Concluding the series, this final section presents crucial supporting strategies vital for agricultural transformation in Sadar Hills. It covers integrated environmental management, the development of a local food and agri-processing industry, strategic planning including financing, and a broad mobilization of public awareness and policy to achieve long-term sustainability and self-reliance for a ‘Green’ movement.
This broad agri-strategy would be incomplete without concurrent efforts in environmental stewardship including factoring climate change, food and agri-processing, and robust mobilization, encompassing awareness, advocacy, political direction, finance, and the use of new technologies.
A coherent and committed Environmental Strategy is paramount. The focus here must be on reviving forests and rivers, protecting natural resources and biodiversity, which, if managed sustainably, can also become a source of income and revenue, and mindful and responsible infrastructure development and construction.
The first step in regenerating forests is to establish, as village and tribal communities, large nurseries of local and endemic trees, drawing upon existing state-level lists from the Ministry of Environment’s environmental information system, ENVIS, ideally with the support of the Forest Department. To this mix of forest trees, we can strategically add revenue-bearing trees and plants such as coffee, camphor, agar, red and white sandalwood and fruit trees, provided they are non-invasive and tested for compatibility with the environment.
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These can then be planted in fallow village lands, community forests, along river banks, within institutional compounds, and along roads as part of community efforts with the involvement of youth and women’s groups, and schools and colleges as part of their environmental education. We will need funds to incentivize and compensate villages, women, and youth to plant and maintain such plantations until they mature into forests. Purely commercial species like teak, pine, rubber and oil palm, not local or endemic to the area and harmful to the environment or soil, are not recommended for these ecological efforts.
Second, we must commit to repairing, reviving, and rehabilitating our rivers through extensive tree planting, protection of banks, and the construction of eco-friendly check dams, addressing them tributary by tributary as well as principal river systems.
Part 3: A Roadmap for Green Farming in the Northeast Hills#Agroecology #SustainableFarming #GreenRevolution #Manipur #FarmingFuture #ClimateSmartAgriculture#FarmToFuture #NortheastIndia https://t.co/cA18ZwPbuD
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If we commit to this, external technical and financial assistance can be sought from environmentally concerned agencies. Reviving our rivers will in turn support our forests, agriculture, fishing and the environment at large. Each of these rehabilitated river stretches can also be developed for sustainable tourism, complemented by attractive, traditional, and sustainable constructions.
Third, we must protect, preserve, and meticulously document our biodiversity. This is an end in itself, but it can also become a source of revenue, as pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and herbal medicine companies often express interest in the medicinal wealth of our forests. We must manage such commercial interests responsibly.
Fourth, we need to develop a responsible policy for the exploitation of our natural resources.
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It is arguable that a significant part of the present conflict that we are experiencing is rooted in an interest in the natural resources of tribal lands. We should adopt a conservative approach to natural resource extraction. If extraction is deemed justified, it must be carried out sustainably and responsibly. We must remember that these resources belong to the entire community, not merely individual owners. Advanced economies like Norway and Singapore and select developing countries are evolving mechanisms to convert and channel earnings from their natural resources for the greater common good rather than benefiting only a select few based on ideas of private property that run counter to tribal traditions. Such ideas will surely run up against selfish vested interests, but need to be explored proactively.
Finally, we must address the issue of irresponsible engineering and construction of transport and urban infrastructure especially roads and drainage, that is a major contributor to landslides, floods and man-made disasters that bedevil the North East every monsoons and cyclonic activity. Tribal authorities could dig into the constitutional provisions under Article 371 series to protect their lands to demand stringent standards for road and rail construction and reinforcement of exposed embankments in hill areas, that would apply equally to their exercise their authority for local development. A simple method could be to prominently display the Terms of Reference, names of Ministers, officials and contractors, budgets, and life-span of projects prominently in all public projects as is done for smaller rural projects in many areas now.
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The second arm of this agri-strategy is the development of a robust food and agri-processing industry. Currently, quality food processing in the Hills is minimal, limited to some cottage production of farm derivatives and basic rice and oil-seeds milling. Most agri-produce is perishable and sold fresh. Beyond promoting agri-products through indigenous home or commercial food outlets, a second avenue is to develop cottage industries for home-made bottled or packaged processed foods like fruit juices, pickles, jams, conserves, traditional fermented foods (bethu, ngathu), honey, and edible oils. These are already occurring on a small scale but can be significantly scaled up in quality and quantity through capacity building via internet resources and expert guidance.
However, perhaps the most impactful way to boost our agri-sector is to establish small industrial agri-processing units that can extend the shelf life of primary produce, add value and creativity in countless ways, and generate vital non-farm employment. Several initiatives in Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal, Meghalaya and Mizoram, both private and public, have already led the way in both cottage and industrial agri-processing of traditional and innovative farm-based products. While the potential for the North East is vast—from plant to livestock -based products, setting up such units in the Hills is daunting. Challenges include achieving scale of production, nurturing entrepreneurship, acquiring technical knowledge, developing management expertise, securing financing and rehabilitating collapsing infrastructure as a result of the weather, environmental degradation and conflict. Capacity building in these areas is urgently and simultaneously required. Educational institutions in the Sadar Hills (like Oasis College, Presidency, Motbung, FEEDS and others) could take this up on a crash basis.
To some extent, in the absence of other industries, agri-processing can also serve as a partial answer for the unemployed and landless. In the Sadar Hills, locations like the Kangpokpi Nute Kailhang, Kalapahar market, Saparmaina, Motbung, Saikul, and Kangchup/Leimakhong (which offer established platforms for agri-produce aggregation and can provide volume and scale, absorb market surpluses and reduce wastage), are obvious places to establish such units. These units should also [strategically] cater to the Nepali and Naga populations within Sadar Hills to integrate them into a common market for agri-produce.
A comprehensive agri-processing strategy extends beyond mere production: it demands reliable and attractive packaging, effective promotion, strong branding, and technological interventions, including e-commerce platforms, to boost sales. Technology and financing will serve as key force multipliers to achieve our objectives. Interested consultancies could provide critical guidance on new technologies in the farm-to-market value chain. Furthermore, a small unit within the Sadar Hills ‘Green’ agriculture movement should be established to provide essential legal and regulatory compliance services to farmers for a modest, affordable fee.
Third, and of critical importance, is an education, awareness-raising, outreach, and mobilization strategy for both agriculture and the environment. This necessitates involving various stakeholders, including schools and colleges; teachers, women and youth; village and town authorities; media and social media; political leaders, Chiefs, Churches, CSOs and others; and leveraging word-of-mouth communication to draw farmers across Sadar Hills towards the proposed strategy. The power of social media can be especially used to raise awareness on environmental and agricultural issues. The immediate objective should be to persuade all stakeholders and decision-makers in the district, both formal and informal, particularly farmers, leaders, tribal bodies, Chiefs, CSOs, and women and youth organizations, to adopt this strategy and transform Kangpokpi into a district-wide green agriculture and environmental movement.
Finally, no strategy can be complete without a robust financial plan. This will be challenging, given the current lack of development funds and limited capacity to raise internal resources due to a very poor productive base. We particularly look to bankers to assist in financing our agricultural initiatives, agri-processing industries, and environmental rehabilitation efforts. SHGs, Cooperatives, and FPOs, proven instruments for organizing production, are also excellent avenues for raising small-scale finance. But much bigger resources are required for agricultural credit, entrepreneurship and infrastructure than are currently available through government or commercial institutions (and if there are, they are not being effectively utilised). Perhaps there is a trust and outreach deficit.
In the longer term, there is therefore also a need to consider establishing tribal banks for rural and agricultural credit, entrepreneurship, and development. While this may seem ambitious, it is achievable. If we can garner consensus around the progressive ideas within this strategy, with formal endorsements from political and community leaders, MLAs, CSOs, Chiefs, and other stakeholders, it may be possible to approach philanthropic and funding organizations to underwrite such efforts. However, in the final analysis, while external help is necessary, our ultimate goal should be self-reliance and standing on our own feet. Sustainability also requires that tribal societies escape the trap of dependence on a donor culture that fosters easy money, rent seeking, and extortion. Our motto must be: “God helps those who help themselves.” Let us help ourselves.
It is important to acknowledge that pressures on the environment in the Kuki-Zo areas—stemming from displacement, population increases, a lack of sustainable development, livelihood pressures that prioritize immediate needs over future well-being, and an inability to distinguish between ‘need’ and ‘greed’—existed even before the conflict that convulsed the Kuki-Zo region since May 2023. Most Kukis have not had the luxury of fully perceiving the intrinsic link between agriculture and the environment.
The recent conflict has further compounded these challenges. The added pressures and temptations since then have placed even greater strain on our lands. Today, activities like cutting trees, mining rivers, growing poppy, and using chemical fertilizers and pesticides are often justified as necessary for day-to-day survival, as short-term necessities. However, these actions carry unbearable long-term costs that may not be apparent in our generation but will profoundly impact the next. No leadership or generation has the right to sacrifice the future of our children.