Punjab to set up organic farming board: Badal

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has said that an organic farming board will be set up in his State to aid and promote chemical-free agricultural practices in the State.

“I will direct my office to create a board comprising representatives of organic farmers and experts who will advise the Government on policies … the disastrous impact of chemical-intensive farming on peoples’ health alone is reason enough for making the shift,” he said at the closing ceremony of the 5th National Organic Farming Convention held in Chandigarh.

National convention “We were number one in feeding the country, and we will make Punjab number one in organic farming in India…we consider the air as our guru, water our father and earth as our mother and we have sacrificed all three for the sake of feeding the country,” said Badal.

The three-day convention, which brought together 2,500 participants from 22 States and abroad, was organised by the Organic Farming Association of India (OFAI), the National Institute of Technical Teachers’ Training and Research (NITTTR), the Alliance for Sustainable & Holistic Agriculture and the Kheti Virasat Mission (KVM).

Demo plots The Chief Minister said similar conventions should be held in every village across the State to convince farmers that returns from organic farming were as good as chemical-intensive agriculture.

“Every village must have a demo plot that can provide farmers with proof of this. We will facilitate them through local panchayats,” he said, adding that his Government would work towards providing organic farmers with urban shops.

The festival also included scientific and technical sessions at the NITTTR with scientists from various research institutions and organisations sharing their observations and findings on soil health, plant nutrition, plant protection, water management and livestock development, at a Scientific Conference held on the sidelines.

“The convention has proved that Punjab and Haryana have the potential to reverse the destruction of land, water and biodiversity brought about through intensive farming with large doses of agro-chemicals and mindless irrigation,” said Umendra Dutt, Executive Director, KVM.

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