Mumbai, Jan 10 (KNN)  The Ministry of Textiles is taking measures to promote the use of agro-textiles which are known to protect crops and improve agricultural yield, in the north east region.

“Given the prominence of agricultural activities in the North Eastern Region, and the significant contribution of this region to the national agriculture sector, this region will greatly benefit from the application of agrotextile technology,” said an official notice from the Office of the Textile Commissioner here.
 
While agricultural activities are mostly dependent on natural conditions such as sunlight, water, climate (wind, hail, humidity), external factors (birds, weeds, insects, etc.) and post-harvest handling of produce, absence of control factors expose the region’s agricultural sector to risks of unsatisfactory yield, marred quality of produce, damages to the produce, regional limitation on cultivation, and seasonal limitation on cultivation,” it added.
 
Use of protective Agrotextiles, it said, would enhance the cultivation of horticultural and floriculture crops.  Hence, their inclusion in the 12th Five Year Plan is of vital importance to the national economy and agriculture sectors.
 
However, the north-eastern region is yet to adopt this innovative technology on a larger scale.  Hence, the Office of Textile Commissioner is keen to promote Agrotextiles in the north-eastern states, introducing modern cost effective technology which will boost their economy.   
 
Agrotextiles are used in farming, animal husbandry, sericulture and horticulture to control the hazardous influences of environmental and climactic factors on crop production and cattle breeding, regulate nutrient level intake of plants, silk worm rearing and assist in process and post-harvest operations, according to the Office of the Commissioner of Textiles.
 
In addition, Agrotextiles have been demonstrated to be successful world over in not only protecting the crops from any external factors, but also in improving agricultural yield.
 
Researchers in developed countries have proven the advantages of agrotextiles in improving per hectare productivity and quality of produce, specifically for horticulture and floriculture crops, through numerous studies and onsite trials.
 
In order to promote and increase the usage of Agrotextiles, in agriculture, horticulture, floriculture, sericulture and allied activities in the north eastern region, the Ministry of Textiles has launched a Scheme for Promotion of Usage of Agrotextiles in the North Eastern Region (12th Five Year Plan scheme).
 
In this context, the Office of the Textile Commissioner, Ministry of Textiles (MOT) proposes to engage a Project Coordination Agency (PCA) to assist the Office of the Textile Commissioner, Ministry of Textiles to implement the scheme and to meet its objectives for the scheme period from 2013-14 to 2016-17.
 
One of the components of the scheme is to create awareness on usage of Agrotextile products in the North-East region of the country through a series of awareness programmes and media publicity; and setting up demonstration centres that will demonstrate the benefit of using agrotextile products and building local capacities in collaboration with the agrotextile manufacturers and relevant state agriculture bodies, agriculture universities, Krishi Vigyan Kendras and NGOs.
 
Component II envisages providing ready agrotextile kits to beneficiary farmers containing the material, instructions, right methods and practices when using agrotextile products; installation of the kits; and handholding support in usage of agriculture kits.
 
The scheme tenure will be up to year 2016-17 only, and will be managed and monitored through committees at different levels.  (KNN/ES)