Centre approves Rs 182 cr organic agriculture project

Hyderabad, Sep 9 (UNI) The Centre has approved India's first 'Organic Agriculture Project', to be taken up in Andhra Pradesh, with an investment of Rs 182 crore, covering 25 lakh acres in five years.

Talking to newspersons here, Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh today said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had agreed to allocate funds for the project, after conducting indepth study of the proposal sent by the state government.

The whole expenditure would be borne by the Centre.

Stating that under this project, the state's ten per cent cultivated land would come under organic farming within five years, he said the project would cover only dry lands, where cotton and chilli crops were cultivated.

If successful, the project would be extended to other states in the country.

The pilot organic agriculture project, which was implemented in two villages in Warangal and Khammam districts, was yielding good results in terms of income and pollution-free environment.

UNI