The Hindu Business Line : Integrated farming will benefit small land holders: Digvijay

IT is essential for farmers to adopt integrated farming technique to get more profit out of small land holdings, according to Mr Digvijay Singh, former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.

Inaugurating the cattle and farm equipment exhibition as part of the 25th annual `Krishi Mela,' organised by the Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project (SKDRDP) at Kateel in Dakshina Kannada district on Friday, he said that agriculture, poultry and dairy farming, fishery and horticulture should be the part of integrated farming. This will help farmers with small land holdings.

"Farmers can earn more income if they resort to integrated farming," he said.

While the excessive use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides has made agriculture lands less fertile, organic manures can improve the fertility of land. Organic farming is the need of the hour to make agriculture lands more fertile, he said.

Many villages in Madhya Pradesh have adopted organic farming technique. Organic waste in those villages is being used for vermi-compost preparation and for biogas production. With organic farming technique, villagers save a lot, which they used to spend earlier on chemical fertilisers and on fuels such as LPG and firewood, he said.

Villagers have stopped taking bank loan for chemical fertilisers, and nearly 3,500 villages in Madhya Pradesh use only organic fertilisers. Organic farm products have good value in the market, he said.

Mr Singh said that efforts should be made to recharge the water table in the country. The excessive sinking of borewell and digging of open wells will bring down the water table, he added.

The Chairman and Managing Director of Corporation Bank, Mr V.K. Chopra, said that the bank has come out with various products for the welfare of farmers. It will be happy to be associated with rural development projects.

He lauded the efforts of SKDRDP is making rural women self-reliant.

The SKDRDP President, Dr D. Veerendra Heggade, presided over the function.

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