State to build organic fertiliser hub at Rajarhat worth Rs 15 cr
Kolkata: The state Agricultural Marketing department is coming up with an organic fertiliser hub at Rajarhat, the first-of-its-kind in the state. The hub will not only act as a platform for buying and selling of organic fertiliser by farmers but also for sale of organic produces directly to the customers, ruling out involvement of any middleman.
Organic products presently are available in a number of retail chain stores in the city but the price of the products is quite high, beyond the purchase capacity of common people. The organic products will be available at reasonable rate in the hub and will be affordable to the common people.
"The developed countries in the world have shifted to organic farming amidst complaints of use of pesticides in agriculture which is detrimental to health. The people of the state too would surely love organic products if they are sanguine of the genuineness. Organic products including vegetables will be sold in the hub and will also be made available in the Sufal Bangla outlets across the state," state Agriculture Marketing minister Biplab Mitra said.
The seven storied building on 988.5 sq metre land will also have an advanced laboratory with skilled professionals for testing of the organic products. Only certified organic products from the laboratory will be sold in the hub. There will be facilities for conference and guest house in the building.The use of pesticides in crops not only poses health hazards for the consumers but at the same time its use affects the volume of crop production "Farmers will be encouraged to purchase organic fertiliser and cultivation will assure them of good crop yield," a senior official of the department said.
The minister along with CEO of West Bengal State Agricultural Marketing Board (WBSAMB) Jaideep Duttagupta visited the site at Rajarhat on Monday. The minister said if everything goes as per plan the construction of the hub will be completed by February 2022. The total project cost is Rs 15 crore. "The main objective of setting up a dedicated hub of organic fertiliser is to ensure that the farmers get assured return by organic farming and the people of the state get genuine organic products at a reasonable price," Mitra said.
A good number of farmers across the state have already adopted organic farming after receiving training at the institute of WBSAMB – Netaji Subhas Training Institute of Agricultural Marketing."Once we develop the market linkage for them in the form of this hub, more farmers will be encouraged to adopt organic farming," the minister said.
