 "UP harvested 2 million tonnes food grain on treated sodic land")
Uttar Pradesh harvested about 2 million tonnes (MT) of food grain over a lakh hectares of reclaimed sodic land in the last six years across the state.
The market value of this additional harvest is estimated at Rs 2,800 crore.
A total of 1,08,000 hectares of sodic and arid land were reclaimed by state government undertaking UP Bhumi Sudhar Nigam (UPBSN) under World Bank-supported projects.
A sum of Rs 960 crore was expended in these projects, which in turn gave almost three times returns with the harvested food grain valued at Rs 2,800 crore.
Established in 1978, UPBSN is mandated to preserving the health and productivity of the state land resources in a sustainable manner and to protecting, rehabilitating and regenerating potentially cultivable lands.
It aims at reclamation of sodic lands and prevention of further sodicity of land by utilisation of soil reclamation technology, remodeling and maintenance of drains, strengthening agricultural research and extension activities, mobilisation of communities and strengthening institutions involved in reclamation.
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According to an estimate, there is over 3.6 million hectares (MH) of barren, arid, sodic and wetlands across 68 districts in UP, which could potentially be made arable.The total cropped area in UP is over 25 MH.
The reclamation of sodic and barren land has been a part of the ruling Samajwadi Party's election manifesto as well for long.
During the previous Mulayam Singh Yadav regime (2004-07), the government had implemented 'Bhoomi Sena Yojana' for reclamation of uncultivable land. Small and marginal farmers and landless agricultural labourers were eligible to become Bhoomi Sainiks.The scheme was discontinued under the successive Mayawati rule (2007-12)
Over the last 22 years, UPBSN has reclaimed about 4,00,000 hectares of sodic land across UP for agricultural cultivation.
Meanwhile, the Nigam has passed a resolution to rename UPBSN as UP Bhumi Sudhar and Krishak Kalyan Nigam to emphasise on its expanding role in farm sector. The proposal would now be forwarded to the union corporate affairs ministry for vetting.
Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) also invests on soil rejuvenation, which amongst other measures includes water management and reclamation of sodic land.