The Principal Agriculture Officer (PAO) has said that intense efforts are underway to shift the entire farming methods in the district the organic way.
In this connection, famers’ clusters will be formed to create organic villages. Organic fertilisers and pesticides will be produced locally in the farm fields. A system of Organic Produces Certification will be put in place to strengthen the marketing of organically produced crops and to make them profitable.
Besides, such produce would be branded and bestowed with Good Agriculture Practice (GAP) Certification and logo to make them more attractive. Products from GAP certified agriculture fields would be branded as “safe to consume”. The PAO will supervise the project and the assistant director of agriculture will be the nodal officer. Farm fields will be inspected at the block level by assistant directors, agriculture officers and agriculture assistants at the level of Krishi Bhavans.
Financial assistance of Rs. 12 lakh would be given to farmers’ groups, Rs. 7 lakh for rural compost units, and Rs. 6 lakh for packaging and labelling.
Awards have also been instituted for the best municipality, panchayat and corporation in the adoption of organic farming practices. The last date for the applications to be considered for awards is August 31.
