Himachal Pradesh, a state whose economy largely depends on agriculture and horticulture, aims to develop bio-villages by promoting organic farming. The state is also aiming for investments in cold chains. An additional 2,000 hectares land will be brought under organic farming and there are plans to develop 200 bio-villages in the next fiscal year, a government spokesperson informed. He said farmers in the bio-villages would only use bio-fertilizers and bio-pesticides and discourage the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides for cultivating vegetables and fruits.
For meeting the demands of organic manure, the government in its budget for 2017-18 has proposed to set up around 20,000 vermi-compost units with 50% assistance to the farmers. To promote organic farming, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh who was presenting the state Budget 2017-18 on March 8 said the best three organic farmers would be awarded Rs 3 lakhs, Rs 2 lakhs and Rs 1 lakh respectively. More than 36,000 farmers are already benefiting from the high demands and lucrative prices of organic food — be it fruits, vegetables or pulses, the spokesperson said.
ALSO READ: Srinagar-Jammu Highway remain closed for the 6th consecutive day
Agriculture is the main source of income for the people in the hill state, providing direct employment to 69% population. To ensure balanced use of nutrients, the state’s s oil health card scheme is operational. Over 4 lakhs soil cards have been issued to the farmers. Interestingly, farmers in Himachal Pradesh’s landlocked valleys like Pangi in Chamba district and Dodra Kwar in Shimla district have never used pesticides and fertilisers for growing crops.
Most of the farmers who adopted organic farming are in the Rampur area in upper Shimla district, where initial organic farming projects were launched in 2005. According to the Chief Minister, the World Bank has aided Horticulture Development Project of Rs 1,134 crore which would be made fully operational by 2017-18.
Under this project, besides enhancing productivity of tropical and sub-tropical fruits and vegetables, it is proposed to invest a large sum in improving post-harvesting infrastructure like automatic packaging, grading lines, cold storage and processing plants. He said marketing infrastructure would be upgraded in all market yards of the state Agro-Produce Marketing Committee. To promote cultivation of Kiwi, the government will provide 50 per cent subsidy for purchasing of saplings in the next fiscal year.