State to promote organic farming

Minister for agriculture Pocharam Srinivas Reddy said state government will promote organic farming on big scale to reduce the investment cost and achieve good yields and prevent the farmers falling into debt traps and from committing suicides.

He said they will promote organic farming in 15,000 acres with Rs 21 crore in the first phase this year in the state with the funds provided state and central government under the ‘Paramparagath Krishi Vikasa Yojana’ being implemented by the Central government.

Mr Pocharam Srinivas Reddy was speaking at a meeting organized for distribution of soil health cards to the farmers at Indravelli. He said the progamme will be implemented in 300 clusters in all the mandals and 50 acre in each cluster in the state.

Organic farming would be taken up in 1,600 acres in 34 clusters and meetings with the farmers will be conducted in all the districts to educate the importance of the organic farming while stressing need for reducing use of chemicals in the Agriculture.

Minister Pocharam Srinivas Reddy promised to send the Poland based company to Adilabad to establish tomato processing unit here as the company was interested in establishing in food processing units in the state.

The Minister said farmers will get minimum support price to their tomato crop and they will get profits if they the company busy the crop from them. Minister Pocharam Srinivas Reddy inaugurated the cage culture under which fishes will be raised in special methods at Kadam project.