North East has more potential in organic farming

Shillong, Aug 1 (UNI) The Northeastern region has the potential of contributing 20 lakh hectare of agricultural land towards organic farming, said Indian Council of Agricultural Research (North East) Chairman K M Bujarbaruah.

The average use of chemical fertiliser in the region was 11 kg per hectare, he said.

In fact, Sikkim and Mizoram had already declared to go on organic farming in the next five years, the ICAR Director said.

Talking to reporters here today, Dr Bujarbaruah said out of the 50,000 heactare (excluding Northeast) of agricultural land where organic farming was being carried out, North eastern region has much more potential than that.

When it comes to organic farming, this region has the competitive edge over other regions of the country, he asserted.

In this regard, Dr Bajurbaruah said the ICAR would also soon develop a road map to encourage organic farming in the region soon.

ICAR would tie up with the North Eastern Council (NEC) to carry out an intensive survey to identify areas in the eight states of the region, where organic farming was being carried out, he said.

When asked, Dr Bujarbaruah said the ICAR would encourage farmers in the region to continue to for organic farming to bolster the figure up to 20 lakh hectare.

Presently, ten lakh hectare of agricultural land in the region was carrying out organic farming.

When asked on the certifying agency for organic products in the region, Dr Bujarbaruah said ICAR was also trying hard to get accredited as a certifying agency to help market organic products from the Northeast in the national and international markets.

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