Agriculture sector providing jobs to many in Himachal Pradesh

[Veena Annadana]

Agriculture sector providing jobs to many in Himachal Pradesh


SHIMLA: Agriculture sector has got big boost in Himachal Pradesh during the last four years as it is the mainstay of the people. This sector alone has provided direct employment to around 71 percent population of the state.

Having allocated 12 percent of its plan resources for agriculture and allied sectors, which is highest in the country, now state government is promoting organic farming in a big way.

State governments is giving big boost to organic farming as at present 25,000 farmers are engaged in organic farming while four lakh vermi-compost units have been set up. 7200 metric tonne improved seeds, 29,500 metric tonne fertilizers, 10 metric tonne organic manure, 45 metric tonne medicines and 50,000 improved agriculture implements are being distributed to the farmers.

Agriculture sector contributes nearly 30 percent of the total state domestic product. While apple economy is confined only to upper areas of Himachal Pradesh, people in the lower areas were not having much options apart from sowing traditional crops but with the introduction of organic farming now they too have good income from their fields like apple growers of upper areas.

"Efforts are afoot to make Himachal Pradesh self-sufficient in agriculture production and also improving economy of the farmers. The difficult working conditions, lack of infrastructure facilities coupled with recurrence of natural calamities and degradation of natural resources poses challenges for agrarian economy of the state," said a senior official from agriculture department.

He said that crop diversification is also helping in raising productivity and quality of agriculture produce to global standards is being given major thrust. Today, food grain production has increased from 200 thousand tonnes in 1951-1952 to 1579 thousand tonnes in the year 2010-2011.

Maize is the major crop of the state. Production of Maize, which was 67.3 thousand tones in the year 1951-1952, has gone up to 740.64 thousand tonnes in the year 2010-2011. Rice production has gone up from 28.3 thousand tonnes in 1951-1952 to 113.54 thousand tonnes in 2010-2011. Wheat production has attained a level of 670.04 thousand tonnes in 2010-2011 against 61.2 thousand tonnes during 1951-1952.

Agriculture strategy in the state has been re-oriented with emphasis on production of high value crops. For giving further boost to organic and diversified farming, Rs 321 crore project with components of institutional and infrastructure development and farmers support with the assistance of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has been started. All this would lead to crop diversification, increase in farm income and creation of jobs in rural areas.

With an objective of achieving faster growth in agriculture sector and bringing prosperity in the rural areas through self-employment, the State Government has initiated and implemented 'Pandit Deen Dayal Kisan Bagwan Samridhi Yojana', involving an investment of Rs 353 crore.

Poly-Houses are helping in strengthening the economy of farmers due to reduced production cost and increase in farm income. Micro-Irrigation in Poly-Houses has resulted in saving up to 40 per cent water.

Source: Agriculture sector providing jobs to many in Himachal Pradesh - The Times of India

 

[Veena Annadana]

Expert spills the beans on organic food

Expert spills the beans on organic food

A new article refuting the organic food industry's claims to your conscious has come out, criticizing organic corporation advertising methods in particular. Robert Wagner, one of its authors, works in the biology department of the Vancouver island University. "Fear advertising it the primary driver," he said. Wagner charged that there are three main myths about organic food, chief among them is the idea that it's healthier. "Every scientific organization that's in charge of food safety, that has looked for a health benefit in organic food, cannot find one," explained Wagner. The other big myths according to Wagner are that organic foods aren't grown with pesticides or antibiotics, and that they're more natural. Organic foods do use antibiotics and toxic chemicals, they just aren't synthetically produced. Wagner said they also require more manure, which is problematic. "Because they use it more, they have a tendency to increase the risks from the bacterial pathogens that exist in manure," he said. This can result in e coli and salmonella poisoning.

Finally, Wagner and his article discuss the idea that genetically-modified crops are unnatural, which he doesn't think makes sense. "If you back that up for a minute, there's nothing natural about agriculture." He pointed to the fact that agriculture is a human activity that modifies food.

Edited by News Talk Radio's Jared Knoll.

Source: Expert spills the beans on organic food | News Talk 650 CKOM

 

[Veena Annadana]

Jammu to switch to organic farming, with 800 hectares

Jammu to switch to organic farming, with 800 hectares

To explore markets elsewhere in the country and abroad for its saffron, basmati rice and rajmash among various other agricultural produce, the Jammu-Kashmir government is adopting organic farming in a systematic manner.

It has identified 800 hectares of agricultural land in the hilly districts of Kishtwar, Doda and Ramban, besides the plains of Jammu, and entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) recently with three private service providers — New Delhi-based M/s International Panaacea Ltd, Jaipur-based M/s M R Morarka-GDC Rural Research Foundation and the Jammu-based M/s Sarveshwar Organic Foods Ltd.

These service providers will not only bring the earmarked land under organic farming, but also ensure certification of the agricultural produce and its marketing. The firms will be paid Rs 1.60 crore by the state government over a period of three years.

Significantly, farming is already semi-organic by default in large tracts of cultivable lands across the state, especially higher reaches of Kishtwar, Udhampur, Reasi, Ramban, Doda, Poonch, Rajouri and Kathua districts. Though a large number of crops are grown there without or with little use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers in view of the temperate climate, the agricultural yield so produced needs certification, officials point out.

The motive behing organic farming along commercial and scientific lines, according to State’s Agriculture Minister Ghulam Hassan Mir, is to make farming sustainable in the state where people have small land holdings. Under organic farming, there is a good scope for Basmati rice, which is grown on over 35,000 hectares of land in the state and has a production of over 88,000 metric tonnes, besides rajmash, pulses, saffron, peas and potato, which are cultivated in temperate areas during the Kharif season, Mir said.

The entire exercise is aimed at tapping the increased inclination among consumers world over towards organic agricultural products in view of their environmental, health and nutritious advantages. As these fetch higher remunerations to the growers, the shift also intends to arrest the growing trend among rural youth looking at urban areas for jobs.

The minimum period for conversion of the 800 hectares of land across Jammu region into organic farming has been fixed as three years, says Director, Agriculture, Ajay Khajuria. However, the places where farming is already organic or semi-organic by default, the minimum period can be reduced, he added.

Source: Jammu to switch to organic farming, with 800 hectares - Indian Express

 

[Veena Annadana]

Himachal Pradesh: Target of 7.41 lac tonne foodgrains production fixed

Himachal Pradesh: Target of 7.41 lac tonne foodgrains production fixed

Shimla: A Spokesman of the State Government said here today that a target of 7.41 lac tonne foodgrains besides 3.36 thousand tonne oil seeds, 27,000 tonne potato and 5.20 lac tonne vegetable production had been fixed by the Agriculture Department under Agriculture Production Programme during the current rabi season.

He said that consumers preferred organic produce and added that 25,000 farmers were engaged in organic farming. He said that four lakh vermi-compost units have been set up. He said that 7200 metric tonne improved seeds, 29,500 metric tonne fertilizers, 10 metric tonne organic manure, 45 metric tonne medicines and 50,000 improved agriculture implements have been distributed to the farmers. He said that 62,500 soil testing cards would be issued after taking samples.

The Spokesman said that agriculture insurance scheme would continue during the current rabi season for wheat and barley crops and tomato in Solan district and potato crop in Una and Kangra districts have been included in the weather based crop insurance scheme on experimental basis.

Source: Himachal Pradesh: Target of 7.41 lac tonne foodgrains production fixed, Orissa News