Uttarakhand will become a fully organic state in two yrs: Dhan Singh Rawat

Uttarakhand will become the newest fully organic state in the next two years, as 62 out of the total 95 blocks in the state have become organic, of which 47 blocks have already been certified as organic, the state’s cooperative and education minister, Dhan Singh Rawat, said today.

 

He was speaking at a day-long conclave on agriculture organised by the rural-centric media platform Rural Voice, where speakers highlighted the need to increase expenditure on research to enhance farmers’ income.

 

Rawat, meanwhile, said that the development of the country will happen only when farmers come forward.

 

“On one hand, agricultural land is decreasing, the fertility of the soil is decreasing, and on the other hand, the population of the country is increasing. It is important for us to keep this in mind,” Rawat said.

 

Former agriculture and food secretary T. Nand Kumar admitted that policies in India are skewed towards consumers.

 

Prakash Naiknavare, managing director of the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Limited (NFCSF), who spoke at one of the sessions, said that every year around Rs 36,000 crore is given to farmers through cooperatives, and the effort is to further expand their reach.

 

NCEL managing director Anupam Kaushik compared Indian agriculture to China, saying that in India, the total agricultural production is about $430 billion, while China, which has less agricultural land than India, produces farm goods worth around $1.4 trillion. He added that wherever organisational efforts have been made, productivity per hectare has increased. Institutions should be seen in this perspective.