Malda: 300 acres of land to be made fertile under ‘Matir Srishti’ Scheme in Malda

Malda: A total of 300 acres of agricultural land in 3 developmental blocks of Malda is being made fertile under the Matir Srishti scheme of the state government. Habibpur, Bamangola and Gazole are the 3 blocks of Barind Tract that have been picked up by the district agriculture department for the scheme in the first phase.

Two land parts measuring 50 acres in each of the 3 blocks are under the scheme which have less water supply. Almost a thousand beneficiaries have primarily been brought under the scheme.

Dibanath Majumder, deputy director of the district agriculture department, said: “The land used to beget a single crop in a year has been chosen for the scheme. Ponds have been dug at strategic points for the land to get the supply of water continuously. We aim to make these lands capable of producing at least 2 or 3 crops a year. All the line departments of irrigation, horticulture, animal husbandry, and fisheries are working together with an aim of additional income generation of the farmers and economic upliftment of the community.”

The scheme was introduced by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in 2020 for 6 districts of the western part of West Bengal comprising Bankura, West Midnapore, Jhargram, West Burdwan, Purulia and Birbhum. Later, Malda also expressed interest in the scheme for its Barind Tract in it. With the green signal from the state initially 300 acres of fallow land is being exploited for more outcome for the financial upgradation of the farmers.

To implement the scheme as per the state directives block level committees have been formed which includes assistant director of agriculture and block development officer.

These committees are under the district committee headed by the district magistrate and convened by deputy director of agriculture department.

Nitin Singhania, District Magistrate Malda, said: “As per the state directives we are implementing the scheme in Malda. In case of agriculture some time will be needed to review the situation with the crops and others. So far, we are having a very good feedback from the state.”