Organic farming to boost UP farmers' wealth

(MENAFN- IANS) By Vivek Tripathi

Lucknow, Nov 20 (IANS) Organic farming will change the lives of crores of farmers in the state as Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is eyeing to make it a hub for the same. In the first phase, organic crops will be planted in a total of 68,000 hectare land in 63 districts across the state. All districts along with the banks of river Ganges have been included in the scheme. Those district which have been selected for the organic farming include 36 districts that follow conventional ways of farming while 27 are already included in the Namami Gange Project. For the better implementation of ideas, the government will emphasis on the cluster farming. Each cluster will be of 50 acres.

To encourage the farmers who will be doing the organic farming, the government will provide a grant of Rs 10 lakh to each cluster in every three years. Out of the amount, Rs 3.30 lakh will be paid twice in first and the last year while in the remaining middle year the cluster will get Rs 3.40 lakh. A total of 38 per cent of the total outstanding will be spent on formation of the cluster, increase the capacity of the farmers, value addition, branding and packaging etc.

The farmers, included in the organic farming, will be provided a thorough knowledge about it including the tools and other investments, and they will also be made to visit the areas where it is already being done. After the visit, the knowledge about farming, green compost, preparing nursery, Panchagavya, Jeevamrit, vermi compost, managing diseases and pests through organic methods will be imparted to farmers. Moreover, training for product cleaning, grading, packaging and levelling will also be given to them. The government is also planning to start organic market in all divisional headquarters.

Demand for organic products has increased due to growing awareness of health along with income. People are ready to pay good prices for them. The customer has confidence that what he is buying is best to the quality. For this, the government will also get certification of these products from PGS India, Ghaziabad.

Anand Tripathi, Additional Director (Extension), Department of Agriculture, said that the government is working fast to promote organic and natural farming. Keeping this in mind, all the 1,038 gram panchayats along the banks of the Ganga river that passes through Uttar Pradesh will have organic farming. Of this, the Department of Agriculture and UP DSP will conduct organic farming in 16 and 11 districts respectively.

It is known that Ganga has mother status in Indian tradition. The oldest civilization of the world flourished in the Ganga's catchment area. The Indo-Gangetic Belt ranks among the most fertile lands in the world. Chief Minister Yogi often mentions this in his private conversations and public meetings. He says that the land of the Indo-Gangetic Belt can become the granary of the world.

Districts included in the traditional agricultural scheme include

Jhansi, Jalaun, Lalitpur, Banda, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Chitrakoot, Mirjapur, Gorakhpur, Pilibhit, Gonda, Agra, Mathura, Varanasi, Kaushambi, Fatehpur, Deoria, Farukhabad, Unnao, Raebareli, Bahraich, Barabanki, Shravasti, Faizabad, Azamgarh, Sultanpur, Kanpur Nagar, Firozabad, Badaun, Amroha, Bijnor, Chandauli, Sonbhadra, Balrampur and Siddhanthanagar.

Districts included in Namami Gange Scheme include Chandauli, Varanasi, Sant Ravidas Nagar, Mirzapur, Prayagraj, Fatehpur, Pratapgarh, Raebareli, Kanupar Nagar, Kannauj, Aligarh, Amroha, Sambhal, Hapur, Meerut, Muzaffanagar, Ballia, Ghazipur, Kaushambi, Unnao, Farukhwar, Harukharaj, Kasganj, Bulandshahr and Bijnor.

(Vivek Tripathi can be reached at )

--IANS

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