Long term impact of violence hits Manipur agriculture

Aug 19, 2025

Sabungkhok Khunou (Manipur), 19 Aug, ANI: The farming community in Manipur has borne the brunt of ethnic clashes between the Meitei and Kuki communities, which erupted on May 3, 2023. The violence has left thousands of hectares of once-fertile farmland uncultivated, triggering a deepening agrarian crisis and threatening the livelihoods of countless rural families who depend on agriculture for survival. We travelled to Sabungkhok Khunou village, located on the fringes of Imphal East district, to witness the impact firsthand. Here, farmers like Thangjam Rojit face a daily struggle to make ends meet. His 4.3-acre farmland, once lush and productive, now lies fallow, overgrown with weeds, and untouched for more than a year. The fields, which once fed families and sustained livelihoods, now stand as silent witnesses to the disruption and uncertainty that the ongoing conflict has brought to rural Manipur. Rojit is far from alone in his struggle. Across Manipur, hundreds of farmers are confronting the same grim reality — fertile fields lying fallow, livelihoods disrupted, and uncertainty clouding their future. Official data reveals that nearly 5,127 hectares of agricultural land have remained uncultivated or barren since the outbreak of violence over two years ago. The prolonged violence, displacement, and denial of access to their own fields have triggered a silent agrarian crisis in Manipur, threatening food security, destabilizing incomes, and undermining the very foundations of the rural economy. Farmers continue to yearn for the day they can return to the fields that once sustained both their families and their communities.