The Chhattisgarh Government will soon empanel non-profit organisations that have experience of working in the field of Organic farming in the tribal regions of Dantewada district of Bastar, officials informed.
Notably, the Deputy Director of Agriculture (DDA) of Dantewada is promoting Organic farming and Sustainable Agriculture based livelihood among the farmers of Dantewada since 2013-14.
In order to upscale these efforts and achieve an ambitious target of converting Dantewada into a complete organic district in coming years, engagement of external agencies is being sought to achieve results in a limited time period.
Notably, Dantewada is among the districts in Chhattisgarh which are very remote and affected severely by lWE activities. Forest Produce and Agriculture are two most important sources of livelihood for the communities in Dantewada.
However, the forest-based livelihood is limited and gradually weakening due to increasing population and various other changes. On the other hand the low productivity of agriculture is also proving to be insufficient for the growing needs of the people, officials informed.
The district also has its strengths in terms of very low usage of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and a rich diversity of traditional varieties of Rice and millets.
leveraging these strengths, the Deputy Director of Agriculture of Dantewada has been promoting Organic farming and Sustainable Agriculture based livelihood among the farmers of Dantewada since 2013-14.
More than 3000 farmers have joined these efforts and are cultivating paddy, millets, vegetables and other crops organically. looking at these efforts the Government of Chhattisgarh has aimed to make Dantewada into a complete organic district in coming five years.
In order to achieve such an ambitious target, significant efforts will have to be put up and involvement of external expert agencies will have to be sought to share the responsibilities and achieve results in a limited time period, officials informed.
These efforts should be focussed on building the capacity of Farmer and Women groups in the field of organic farming, their registration under PGS organic certification and bringing them under the membership of an organic farmer’s producer organization, Bhoomgaadi which has already been formed in the district with the support of administration.
Continuous hand holding support will be provided to the famers in organic farming, cultivation of Rice, millets, pulses and vegetables through the cadre of CRPs .
Establishment of community seed banks will have to be taken to conserve and propagate traditional seeds and varieties in the cluster villages for which the district administration will provide infrastructure support as per the requirement.
The Chhattisgarh Government has prepared a five-year master plan to provide a fillip to the cultivation of horticulture based crops in the State.
The master plan is for the period 2017-18 to 2021-22, officials informed.
Horticulture is a sunrise sector in the State. The Horticulture crops cover an acreage of 7.41 lakh hectares and production is about 85.95 lakh metric tonnes, officials informed.
The acreage under horticulture crops had increased several times since 2004-05.
According to the master plan, the target is to increase acerage of horticulture crops by about 4.52 lakh hectares. The increase in acerage will cover fruits, vegetables, masala (spices) crops and flowers.
Under the Central Government's Micro-Irrigation Mission Project about 75,000 hectares land had been brought under micro-irrigation in Chhattisgarh. The proposal is to bring in additional 2.34 lakh additional land under the micro-irrigation during the next five years.
An additional investment of Rs 1405 crore is likely to be incurred on the project. Farmers will be trained in the processing of horticulture crops.
Additional training centers in production of horticulture crops will be established under the Private Partnership Plan (PPP), officials informed.
Agriculture expert teams also will visit all the villages in the State and guide the farmers. About 30,000 farmers and 185 employees will be trained in the coming years and 100 farmers will be sent overseas on a study tour.
The Horticulture Department officials said that under the Post-Harvest Management, a network of cold storages and pack houses will be established to prevent the damage of perishable commodities like fruits, vegetables and flowers in the entire state.
About Rs 90.81 crore is likely to be invested in the project. Green Houses, shed net houses, mulching will be established at a cost of Rs 321 crore.