Bengal Agriculture minister bats for boosting organic farming in state

Kolkata: With organic farming said to be gaining popularity among the health-conscious people, state Agriculture minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay on Tuesday laid special emphasis on the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) scheme during a review meeting.

Nine districts in Bengal namely Kalimpong, Birbhum, Bankura, Purulia, West Midnapore, Jhargram, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar have taken up organic farming under PKVY with a total of nearly 21000 acres of land being involved.

Department sources said in the fiscal 2022-23 (first phase), 11,000 acres of land was taken up, in 2023-24 financial year (FY) another 4,000 acres, and in 2024-25 FY, the process of taking up another 6000 acres is in progress. The scheme will continue till 2026-27 fiscal.

“Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is enthusiastic regarding organic farming. The meeting was held for assessing the progress of work, interest among the farmers and to what extent they are being benefited, and to make necessary interventions in the form of providing assistance for organic fertilizer, providing necessary inputs for organic packaging so that they can market their produce in a better manner,” Chattopadhyay said.

Twelve types of paddy are being cultivated through organic farming in Bankura while in West Midnapore, sesame‘s organic cultivation is being done, an official informed. PKVY aims at supporting and promoting organic farming, in turn resulting in improvement of soil health. Funding pattern under the scheme is in the ratio of 60:40 by the Central and State Governments, respectively.