TN likely to unveil organic agriculture policy
Updated: May 02, 2013 05:28:29pm
Chennai, May 2 (KNN) Tamil Nadu government is expected to come out with a comprehensive organic agriculture policy with preparatory work and measures already in place.
Various components of the policy, including the formation of a Department of Sustainable Organic Agriculture and establishment of a Directorate for Organic Agriculture, were under preparation and the policy was expected shortly, said a media report quoting Vice- Chancellor, Tamil Nadu Agriculture University (TNAU), K Ramasamy.
Ramasamy was addressing the launch of ‘SUSTAIN,’ a public private partnership initiative to deploy innovative drying and storage technology to farmers.
SUSTAIN promotes sustainable agriculture and improvement of quality of life of farmers through solar drying and cold storage technologies.
TNAU could assist in identifying suitable locations where the project could be rolled out across the State and in matching the right crop with the soil type, the Vice-Chancellor said.
On the forthcoming organic agricultural policy, organic certification for products would help farmers’ collectives compete in the global markets and fetch much better prices, which in turn, would motivate them to achieve higher productivity, according to him.
Organic agriculture, he said, should not only be environmentally sustainable but economically viable.
Over the next year and a half, SUSTAIN will help farmers to install equipment, transfer knowledge to empower farmers to train others and form market linkages.
The project has been introduced currently in Theni where banana is cultivated widely. In the farming community there, two solar dryers and three storage units have been provided free of cost on common farm land to cater to around 100 farmers. Further, they have been trained to use and maintain the equipment.
The project is being rolled out for the first time in India in Tamil Nadu.
In addition, farmers’ collectives will be provided solar drying and cold storage energy efficient farming technologies that would help generate new and value-added products.
On the significance of the project, Sreenivas Narayanan of ASSIST, an international NGO and the third partner, said, India was losing almost 40 per cent or 59 million tonnes of all agriculture produce due to wastage and spoilage every year due to fragmented supply chain, inefficient harvesting facilities, lack of post-harvest management solutions like proper cooling and drying facilities, the media report said. (ES/KNN)
Various components of the policy, including the formation of a Department of Sustainable Organic Agriculture and establishment of a Directorate for Organic Agriculture, were under preparation and the policy was expected shortly, said a media report quoting Vice- Chancellor, Tamil Nadu Agriculture University (TNAU), K Ramasamy.
Ramasamy was addressing the launch of ‘SUSTAIN,’ a public private partnership initiative to deploy innovative drying and storage technology to farmers.
SUSTAIN promotes sustainable agriculture and improvement of quality of life of farmers through solar drying and cold storage technologies.
TNAU could assist in identifying suitable locations where the project could be rolled out across the State and in matching the right crop with the soil type, the Vice-Chancellor said.
On the forthcoming organic agricultural policy, organic certification for products would help farmers’ collectives compete in the global markets and fetch much better prices, which in turn, would motivate them to achieve higher productivity, according to him.
Organic agriculture, he said, should not only be environmentally sustainable but economically viable.
Over the next year and a half, SUSTAIN will help farmers to install equipment, transfer knowledge to empower farmers to train others and form market linkages.
The project has been introduced currently in Theni where banana is cultivated widely. In the farming community there, two solar dryers and three storage units have been provided free of cost on common farm land to cater to around 100 farmers. Further, they have been trained to use and maintain the equipment.
The project is being rolled out for the first time in India in Tamil Nadu.
In addition, farmers’ collectives will be provided solar drying and cold storage energy efficient farming technologies that would help generate new and value-added products.
On the significance of the project, Sreenivas Narayanan of ASSIST, an international NGO and the third partner, said, India was losing almost 40 per cent or 59 million tonnes of all agriculture produce due to wastage and spoilage every year due to fragmented supply chain, inefficient harvesting facilities, lack of post-harvest management solutions like proper cooling and drying facilities, the media report said. (ES/KNN)
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