Representational Image (Pixabay)
Chhattisgarh gets highest fund from Centre
New Delhi: The Ministry of Agriculture on February 4, 2022, said that under natural farming an area of 4.09 lakh hectare (ha) area has been covered and a total fund of Rs. 4980.99 lakh has been released to 8 states across the country.
The Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar stated this in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.
The Union Government is promoting Natural Farming through Bhartiya Prakritik Krishi Padhati (BPKP), which was introduced during 2020-21 as a sub scheme of Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) for the promotion of traditional indigenous practices including Natural Farming, Tomar said.
The scheme mainly emphasizes on exclusion of all synthetic chemical inputs and promotes on-farm biomass recycling with major stress on biomass mulching, use of cow dung-urine formulations and other plant-based preparations.
“Under BPKP, financial assistance of Rs 12200/ha for 3 years is provided for cluster formation, capacity building and continuous handholding by trained personnel, certification and residue analysis. Until now, under natural farming an area of 4.09 lakh ha area has been covered and a total fund of Rs. 4980.99 lakh has been released to 8 States across the country,” Tomar informed the House.
According to the data presented by Tomar, Chhattisgarh has received highest fund among the eight states from the Centre despite having less natural farming area than two states: Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
An amount of 1352.52 lakh was released to Chhattisgarh on December 09, 2020 under the BPKP. The state has 85000 ha area covered under natural farming.
Kerala stands at number two spot with Rs 1336.60 lakh, which was released on September 30, 2020. The state has 84000 ha area covered under natural farming.
Madhya Pradesh with Rs 787.64 lakh (released on February 16, 2021) is at number three. The state has 99000 ha area covered under natural farming.
Rs 750 lakh was released to Andhra Pradesh on September 30, 2020. The state has 100000 ha area covered under natural farming, which is highest among the eight states.
Odisha got Rs 381.89 lakh, which released on February 02, 2021. The state has 24000 ha area covered under natural farming.
Himachal Pradesh received Rs 286.42 lakh, which was released on December 24, 2020. The state has 12000 ha area covered under natural farming.
Jharkhand got central funding of Rs 54.10 lakh on December 2, 2020. The state has 3400 ha area covered under natural farming.
Tamil Nadu received Rs 31.82 lakh on February 16, 2021. The state has 2000 ha area covered under natural farming.
RS 650 crore approved for promoting organic farming
The Union Agriculture Minister also said that the Government is implementing dedicated organic farming schemes of Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) and Mission Organic Value Chain Development in North East Region (MOVCDNER) since 2015-16 to encourage farmers to produce organic manure and to promote organic farming of food grains in the country.
The Minister also informed that an amount of Rs Rs 650 crore has been approved for promotion of organic farming for the year 2021-22.
“Hands-on training to farmers for on-farm production of organic manure/ organic fertilisers and its use are integral part of these schemes. Farmers are provided assistance of Rs 31000/ ha / 3 years under PKVY and Rs 32500/ ha/ 3 years under MOVCDNER for various organic inputs including on-farm production/procurement of organic fertilisers. An amount of Rs 650 crores has been approved for promotion of organic farming for the year 2021-22,” Tomar said.
Under PKVY and MOVCDNER, farmers are primarily encouraged to adopt organic cultivation using organic inputs, and support is provided to the farmers for various components from production to value addition, certification, and marketing of organic produce. (PW News)
