SHILLONG: The third phase of a sustainable livelihood model, which combines income generation with better management of natural resources, will be introduced soon under the North Eastern Region Community Resource Management Project (NERCORMP).
NERCORMP, which is a joint development initiative of the North Eastern Council, the DoNER Ministry and the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), has already implemented the model in six districts in the North East, said Rashi Omar, the country representative of IFAD.
“This model has worked for the six districts. We would like to see the project being implemented in the rest of the states in the NE region,” said Omar, who was in the city to attend a NERCORMP workshop on Monday.
“It is a model that brings traditional knowledge of natural resources whether it is forestry, water and land management, blend it together with scientific management so that farmers can preserve the diversity and bio-diversity of the environment as the North East is known as hotspot of biodiversity and the richest in the world,” she added.
Omar pointed out that farmers can improve soil moisture and selection of seeds and also opt for drought-tolerant seed production to diversify production.
She also asserted that productivity of both cash and food crops is increasing. “There is a lot of improvement in making agriculture a viable business again and we see this in the North East region in the areas where NERCORMP is working and it is possible in other parts of the country,” she said.
Stating that NERCORMP — which operates in Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh — is committed to combating the problem of farmer suicide, Omar said, “We have looked at the causes of suicides and it is true that Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh need support to combat farmers’ distress.”
On availability of land, C.K Das, IAS (retired), said the North East has lost most of its land to soil erosion and landslides and that farmers in the region should shift towards growing pulses and oilseeds.
Das called for better marketing strategies and said farmers should be helped in forming cooperative societies instead of them selling products on the roadside.
In the first phase, the project covered 860 villages, reached out 39,161 households, and established 1,012 Natural Resource Management groups and 3,168 self-help groups benefiting a total of 2,35,000 people.
In the second phase, NERCORMP has been able to cover 460 villages and reach out to 20,826 households and has established 1,589 self-help groups and 494 Natural Resource Management Groups till date.
NERCORMP III is targeted to cover approximately 1,177 villages.
