Nearly 1.12 lakh acre land shifted from tobacco to alternate crops

New Delhi: Nearly 1.12 lakh acres of land has been shifted from tobacco farming to cultivation of alternative crops during the last five fiscal years.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said: "A total of 1,11,889 acres land has been shifted from tobacco farming during last five years i.e. 2017-18 to 2021-22 to other alternative crops/cropping system."

The Department of Agriculture has been implementing crop diversification programme, a sub-scheme of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), in 10 tobacco

growing states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal to encourage farmers to shift to alternative crops/cropping system since 2015-16.

Under this programme, tobacco growing states have been given the

flexibility to take suitable activities/ interventions to shift from tobacco crops to alternative agricultural/horticultural crops.