Vizianagaram: Officials aim to increase organic farming

Vizianagaram: With an aim to increase the area of organic farming, the district organic farming wing is creating awareness and imparting training to the farmers. This kharif season, the officials and farmers are expecting more yield as soil was accustomed for manure and herbal extract.

In 2006, the district administration introduced the organic farming in 50 villages by forming 10 clusters. Now with more farmers showing interest in the organic farming, it has increased to 52 clusters and 242 villages. Currently, a total of 31,590 farmers are practicing organic farming in 39,000 acres of land.

District Project Manager (DPM) K Prakash said that they organised several awareness programmes on the organic farming. He added that their field staff prepared huge quantity of Ghana Jeevamrutham, an organic manure, to improve the soil health and increase fertility of the land.

He said that continuous practice of organic farming will help farmers and soil. In this farming there is no expenditure to purchase fertilisers and pesticides. Instead of them, the herbal extracts are used to eradicate pests and diseases. Vegetables and millets like ragi, foxtail millets, pearl millets, jowar also being produced by organic farming.

Agriculture officer D Shyamsundar said that they are in a mission to protect the indigenous paddy seeds like Bahurupi, Gandhasala, Kurudat, Ratna Chodi, Kulakar, Chitti Mutyalu.

He added that they selected 600 farmers and encouraged them to cultivate these Desi varieties in 300 acres. He said that these seeds were grown by our forefathers, but now they are endangered. He said that thousands of farmers are advised to sow green manure seeds to increase the fertility.

Seeds like red gram, green gram, horse gram and others are grown to stabilise nitrogen in soil.

Organic farming expert Dr D Parinaidu said that tribal farmers in the agency area have more knowledge over the organic farming and they have been practicing it for the past few decades.

But we are conducting programmes to increase their knowledge to improve the productivity, he added.