The Hindu Business Line : Project to bolster organic farming

The scheme, with an outlay of Rs 2 crore, envisages financial assistance to farmers to take up organic farming of pepper, vegetables, plantain, pineapple and "pokkali" variety of paddy, which have good potential for export to foreign markets.

As part of the scheme, an amount of Rs 95.25 lakh has been earmarked to spread organic farming of pepper to 1,500 hectares of land in Wayanad and Idukki districts. This apart, continued assistance will be given to pepper gardens that have been into organic farming in these districts with the help of the Agriculture Department.

According to officials in the department, the assistance will be a percentage of the cost of converting the pepper gardens into the organic farming mode. Accordingly, the maximum assistance per hectare during each of the three years will be Rs 2,900, Rs 1,450 and Rs 1,000, respectively. The scheme also lays stress on using pest control methods.

Financial assistance at the rate of Rs 1,000 per hectare will also be given to the farmers to compensate for the shortfall in yield while converting to organic farming.

The scheme has a Rs 24-lakh component to encourage organic farming of "pokkali" variety of paddy. Out of this, Rs 21 lakh has been earmarked to take up the farming over 1,500 hectares of land and the assistance will be to the tune of 25 per cent of the cost incurred for buying seeds and agricultural lime.

Besides, assistance will be extended for marketing of the "pokkali" rice by way of publicity.