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Karnataka to focus on organic farming, policy on opportunities in processing
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Tuesday, 15 November, 2011, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Nandita Vijay, Bangalore
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Karnataka department of agriculture is now gearing up to focus on organic farming and product development. The key objective of this move is to make the state, the organic hub of the country.
In this regard, the first task on hand is to come out with an organic farm policy, according to Dr G K Vasanth Kumar, additional secretary, department of agriculture, Government of Karnataka.
The state’s policy on organic farming seeks to increase rural employment opportunities, facilitate farmers’ self-help groups, reduce pollution, protect human and animal health, and help mitigate drought conditions. The state, which will host the Global Agri Business Investors’ Meet between December 1 and 2, 2011, at Bangalore, will focus on increasing the potential of organic farming.
In order to encourage organic food industry, 100 hectare have been identified in each district for transition to organic farming in the next three years, he added.
R R Hanchinal, vice-chancellor, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, states, "Organic farming will help farmers in improving soil fertility and health of agro-ecosystem. It requires less financial inputs and can be practiced by using the available natural resources. States like Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are promoting organic farming. Karnataka and Maharashtra have already provided Rs 20 crore and Rs 10 crore budgetary allocation respectively. Uttaranchal and Mizoram have already declared themselves as fully organic farming states.”
At the BioFach 2011, which is a three-day international event being held in Bangalore, the session on policy to integrate private sector into developmental sector highlighted that though organic farming is in the introductory phase it will take another two-and-a-half decades to replace the inorganic farming.
A panel of experts comprising Mukesh Gupta of Morarka Organic Foods, which has been into organic farming for around two decades, said that it would take a while for acceptance of organic food culture. Organic has been an outcome of consumer concerns regarding the quality of food. Today the discerning consumer is demanding and willing to pay for food without contamination. Organic farming is still an unorganised sector but once major crop segments like cotton, rice, chilli and millet shift to organic farming, the state’s fortunes may change.
According to Rajashekar Reddy Seelam, managing director, Sresta Natural Bio-Products, less than one per cent of the total land area under cultivation is under organic farming.
While Santosh Kumar Phadke, coordinator of projects, International Competence Centre for Organic Agriculture, said that the growth of organic farming would depend upon the demand for organic products.
Dr K Ramakrishnappa, in-charge, Karnataka government’s organic farming cell, said that compared to normal farming practices, the yield in organic farming might initially decrease by 20 per cent, but it would equal the normal yield by the third year and soon be twice the normal.
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