Bhubaneswar, Mar 31 (PTI) The Odisha government is set to roll out a “climate-resilient” natural farming programme in tribal-dominated areas of five districts in a step towards sustainable agriculture, officials said.
The project will be executed in collaboration with the Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (RySS), set up by the Andhra Pradesh government to implement natural farming, they said.
“Natural farming will get popular acceptance among the people, more particularly in tribal-dominated districts of Odisha, as the method is quite compatible with the traditional patterns,” Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra said in a release.
He said the process would reduce the cost of production, and lead to creation of safe and nutritious food items.
Natural farming is a diversified farming method without the use of synthetic chemicals like pesticides or synthetic fertilisers. It integrates crops, trees and livestock in the system, experts said.
The project, covering 3.15 lakh hectares of farmland, will be rolled out from the 2022-23 fiscal with an investment of around Rs 312 crore over five years.
Cluster approach will be adopted for the scheme, to be undertaken through women self-help groups (WSHGs) in Sundargarh, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Rayagada and Koraput districts, the release said.
The WSHGs will be trained for crop diversification, initial preparation of bio-inputs and pre-monsoon sowing. They will be assisted in the establishment of common facility centres for cleaning, grading, segregation and storage, it added.
Development Commissioner Pradeep Jena said natural farming would result in a “transformational change” towards sustainability.
“As the popularity of non-toxic food items is in high demand, natural farming will fetch more income for WSHGs,” Jena said. PTI HMB RBT RBT
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.