KV News

Organic farming can work wonders

Organic farming can work wonders
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As the world reconciles to the fact that the uncontrolled use of fertilizers and other materials is having a severe impact on the overall health of humans and other living beings, shifting to the organic produce especially vegetable, cereals and other eatables is becoming the trend across the globe.

More and more countries including those in the developed world are trying hard to convince growers, farmers and upcoming agriculturists to switch over to organic produce so that such ill effects are reduced.

Even the administration here announced a project to boost organic food production and increase economic returns for farmers in Jammu and Kashmir. The ‘alternate agriculture system for sustainability’ project is a part of the government’s larger efforts to create a safer, cleaner and more sustainable environment for agriculture and food production in the region.

To begin with the government has kept a budget of Rs 84 crore to support the programme over the next five years. This initiative is part of a larger effort to promote sustainable agriculture, commercial agriculture and healthy food production. The project also envisages creation of over 12,600 jobs and 300 enterprises in the organic agri-sector.

Importantly, the programme includes a range of interventions to support organic farming such as expanding organic cultivation in a cluster approach, producing and recycling bio-inputs, facilitating certification and marketing and providing training and capacity building for farmers.

The project aims to create six to seven organic clusters per district, covering a total of 2,000 hectare of land, besides aiming to convert another 2,000 hectare into organic production, including niche crops and default organic areas.

Since the organic farming practices are being accepted globally the framers and growers in less developed regions need also be trained for providing them guidance to relinquish the old farming practices where the yield was poor and the dependence on artificial fertilizers was huge.

Notably, the administration has also included to provide training to 10,000 farmer families in organic farming and establish 200 commercial and 3,000 low-cost vermicompost units and 100 Integrated Organic Farming System Units.

Promoting organic food cultivation will have a number of positive outcomes which will further fuel growth in organic production. Besides, we can develop trained manpower and a package of practices suited to the region, dedicated bio-input production facilities, certification and branding facilities and an organic value/market chain.

Presently, most of the developed economies are only considering sale of agri products that have been produced through organic farming alone. Most of the gulf nations too are not allowing sale of inorganic produce which has shrunk the market for the traditional farming output.

If all goes well and the planning part of the project is executed meticulously the farming sector will witness a tremendous boost in the region. This will not only help us earn and improve the economy but will also have a positive impact on job creations.


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