Organic farmers from Pherzawl and Churachandpur Friday entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Metal Scrap Trade Corporation Limited (MSTC Ltd), a government of India enterprise.
Under the MoU, MSTC Ltd will buy 1,000 metric tonne of organic ginger from the farmers at the price of Rs 19 per kg, amounting to Rs 1.90 crore. The MoU was signed in the presence of state horticulture and soil conservation minister Th Shyamkumar at his office. VL Keivom signed the MoU representing the farmers of Pherzawl while branch manager Soukat Das represented MSTC Ltd Guwahati.
Shyamkumar said that it will help in generating income for the farmers, especially for the farmers of Parbung. The department will also undertake such initiatives in other districts, he added. Talking to reporters after inking the MoU, Shyamkumar said as a follow up programme of the Ginger Festival-cum-Business Summit held on April 20, 2018, the horticulture and soil conservation department including Manipur Organic Mission Agency (MOMA) has come up with the initiative for the farmers as they were searching for a market place.
K Debadutta Sharma, Mission Director, MOMA said the MSTC Ltd. will procure 32 kg of ginger per day for a month.
He said payment will be made through the account of the farmers registered in the web portal of the MSTC Ltd. Further, the products will be sold through e-auction on MSTC Ltd web portal.
However, farmers have to bear the transportation charge till Churachandpur, from where the company will take the consignment to Kolkata at their own expense, he added. JC Ramthanga, principal secretary (horticulture and soil conservation), director K Kipgen of horticulture and soil conservation and officials of the department along with the farmers of Pherzawl and Churachandpur attended the signing of the MoU.
 with the Metal Scrap Trade Corporation Limited (MSTC Ltd), a government of India enterprise.){kind=link}