India: Government to unveil scheme for organic farming
The ministry of agriculture is giving final touches to a scheme to launch an integrated organic farming scheme in one lakh villages with institutional support. There are close to six lakh villages in the country. “The government is seeking to rope in at least 50 farmers in each of these one lakh villages for organic farming. The scheme will provide all the support needed for organic farming to these farmers,” said a senior official. The government is also seeking to create an exclusive marketing institution for the organic farming products as well, which will ensure that the farmers do not need to worry about selling their produces. “As part of a comprehensive package, we will also establish a marketing institution, which will buy the organic farm produces from the villages only and market them across the country, besides tapping the export potential,” said the official. The government is aiming to ensure that each village earmarks land for organic farming, which will be served by vermipost plant and other support system. The perimeter of the earmarked land will be lined with trees, added the official.
The Centre had recently unveiled a Rs 500 crore “Gokul” mission, which aims to financially assist NGOs or people running cow-hostels. “The government is aiming that there is a kind of convergence between the nation wide organic farming initiative and Gokul Mission for better results. The two initiatives cam complement and optimise the income of the people engaged in these activities,” said the official. The PM is his recent public speeches had shown his keenness for organic farming and had cited the example of Sikkim in this regard as well.
Source: www.asianage.com