Agartala: The farmers in Tripura who engaged in organic farming have been witnessing benefits, as in the last three years organic products worth Rs 8.79 crore were exported to other states and foreign countries.
Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare Minister Ratan Lal Nath informed this today in the Tripura Legislative Assembly.
The Minister said that human resources are the best resources and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also stressed the importance of natural and organic farming.
“Organic farming existed earlier, and in this, we don’t use pesticides or chemicals; this is also known as natural farming. During COVID, people understood the use and necessity of organic farming. In natural or organic farming, India stands second. In our state, only 24% of land is cultivable, and keeping food security in mind, we plan to bring 50,000 hectares of land under organic and natural farming. Keeping natural and organic farming in mind, the Central government has provided a scheme from the 2016-17 financial year to give 100% central funding under Mission Organic Value Chain Development for the North Eastern Region,” said the Minister.
The Agriculture Minister informed that with this, organic cultivation started on 2,000 hectares of land in Tripura, while in the last eight years, it has expanded to 26,500 hectares.
“In 2016-17, only scented rice, turmeric, pineapple, ginger, and chilli were cultivated for personal consumption. Under the present government, we have expanded the land, and around 26,884 farmers are engaged in organic farming. Earlier, there were 132 organic clusters, and now there are 1,276. Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs) were 4 and now are 49. At present, scented rice, pineapple, bird eye chilli, Gondhoraj lebu, sesame, jackfruit, orange, and many others are cultivated. We are connected with many companies from outside the state like Big Basket Kolkata, Mother Dairy of Delhi, Sikkim, Bangalore, and National Co-operative Organic Limited to export our products,” said the Minister.
He informed that in the last three years, from the state, 29.58 metric tons of scented rice, 501 MT of ginger, 52.50 MT of turmeric, 17.10 MT of bird eye chilli, 32.56 MT of lemon, and 554 MT of pineapple have been exported to other states and foreign countries.
“The FPCs help the farmers, and we have given 50 transport vehicles to FPCs. In the last three years, we have exported organic items worth Rs 8.79 crore from the state. Now farmers are receiving the benefits from organic farming, and we are working to double their numbers. A total of 10 organic outlets have been opened, and more will be opened,” he said.
