FISH POND FARMING

A development loan of $25,000 has been received to develop tribal land. It is estimated that it will yeild an income of approximately $30,000 p.a. after five years. It is expected that the development loan will be progressively paid off over the five year period. This is consistent with our principle of missiology, where a hand up is given to the partner not a hand out. A very pure water supply feeds the land which is critical for fish production. The demand for fish exceeds the supply. PLEASE SEE THE HOW TO DONATE TAB

FISHPOND with 4000 fish

Above is a fish ponds dug from the proceeds of a development loan. As can be seen from the photo, it is a substantial excavation. The clay dug from this site was used to build a dormitory for the school (see below) It is customary in Imphal for each family to eat a meal of fish during the Holi festival. Although there is a lot of fish in Manipur, it still needs to be imported to meet the demand. Therefore, there is an automatic demand for the produce from this project. The diplomat centre land and building on the home page is held in the names of the elders of the VCC. The pond construction and school is on the land owned by Minthang's father and will ultimately be inheritted by Minthang. However, both fish ponds have 150 year leases ensuring that the proceeds will go to the VCC ministry. Simply for the project to be undertaken on land purchased and owned by the VCC is cost restrictive and outside their means.

Complementary farming projects will be run beside the dams consisting of piggeries and duckeries. The pooh from these will also assist in the fish breeding.

NOTE!

There is a signed lease of 150 years to enable continuity of the asset benefit to the Vaiphei Christian Church. Very often what can happen is that individuals claim the investment. Capture and Release Ministries work very carefully to ensure that this doesn't happen within our ministry areas of partnership.

This beautiful land is very fertile for rice production. It takes about 2.5 hours to reach it from the Diplomat Centre in Imphal. It is an extremely tiring trip but well worth it.

COME WITH US AND FIND OUT.

AT NIGHT IT IS COMPLETELY SILENT IF YOU GO INTO THE

FIELDS. IT IS A SILENCE THAT YOU CAN FEEL, AMAZING! COME

AND FIND OUT!

The land extends much further to the left and a little to the right.

We are extremely grateful to Discover Church Inc for the provision of the funds for the Development Loan.

MINTHANG'S LAND

SCHOOL IN THE PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTION

It is quite remarkable that the Indian Government has built this school on Minthang's father's land. It will employ Christian teachers amongst others and ultimately provide an additional source of income. There is a VCC church very close to here. When International visitors preach there, the families of the students will be invited to attend. International visitors can also teach at the school. Please refer to the Ministry Tab. Minthang is a man of integrity and this is the reason why the school has been built. The State Government has shown significant confidence in Minthang's ability and integrity.

The school is now completed. Also the bricks used for the school were baked from the clay of the fish pond.

FISH HARVEST

29th October 2019

Hi Col,

We harvested the fish on Monday the 28th October and hired 5 men expert in fish harvesting. Our people also helped. We hired a water pump set and generator to pump out the water from the pond. Due to heavy incessant rain it was difficult to empty the pond easily taking almost 10 hours to bring the water to a low level in the pond. We started pumping out the water at 6 a.m. and catching fish at 4:30 p.m.

Unfortunately my phone slipped out of my hands and dropped in the water as I tried to take pictures. I told the other man to take photos and his phone also slipped and dropped in the water due to heavy rain. Catching of the fish continued till 7:30 p.m. All the fish sellers and business people waited for the harvest to finish despite the heavy rain.

Unfortunately due to a great drought in Manipur this year many of the agricultural product harvests were not good. Therefore, the government imported many tons of fish from outside Manipur and set a subsidised rate due to the difficulties of the drought. In the past, fish sold from 350 to even 500 rupees per kilogram, however this year the government announced that fish will be sold for 250 rupees/kg. Altogether we harvested 821 kilos of fish weighing from 1-3 kilos each and sold it to the wholesalers at a rate of 200 rupees/kg. We made in total 164,200 rupees or $3,284 AU.

We still have around 3,000 small fish in our fish pond, which means we don’t have to buy fish for the next harvest.

Please email me as I dropped my phone in the water.

Once again we thank God and you so much for the fish harvest and the profit that we made.

Looking forward to hearing from you very soon.

Your missionary brother,

Minthang Suantak.

Note: $3,284 is the profit after costs. Also some fishermen take fish in exchange for their wages.

TEAK AND FRUIT TREE PLANTATIONS

Teak plantations have been sown along with fruit tree nurseries from the proceeds of the development loan. Proceeds from the teak plantations take five years to mature. The fruit trees are somewhat faster.

The rice Paddy was purchased for $6,000 via the Discover Church Development Loan. It yields a net profit of $1,600 each year providing the rice isn't used for Bible College Student needs.

I'm no good at measuring distances but I suppose it could be compared to the ground size of the MCG. Perhaps 410 m x 410 m. The picture has been taken in the winter when it is cool and dry. It was difficult to take a picture that shows the whole area.

The rice paddy was purchased in 2014 and the profit has repaid the original purchase price. This has been a very successful development project.

RICE PADDY PURCHASED IN VCC NAME