DHARWAD: The long-cherished dream of setting up of a Centre of Excellence for Organic Farming in dry land areas in North Karnataka region, which was expected to be included in the budget, has remained a dream. If the Budget had included the demand, the Institute of Organic Farming at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, would have facilitated the extension work.
Rajendra Poddar, Head Project Planning and Monitoring Cell, UAS Dharwad, told Express that they had wished that Dharwad would be given Centre of Excellence in Organic Farming to expand capacity of the Institute of Organic Farming.
Organic farming has advantages of protecting environment, providing healthy food besides reducing agriculture production cost. The programme needs to be taken up as a national priority, he said.
Sikkim has been declared the state with 100 per cent organic farming. Similarly our Institute is very popular due to its research, training and products, he said.
“Though our state started programmes like Savayava Gram Krishi Yojane, we are into commercial crop cultivation. We need ground level penetration in this regard and subjective trend towards organic farming needs to be shifted from commercial agriculture,” he added. The government’s intention to bring in five lakh hectares under organic farming over a period of three years is too ambitious, considering the extent of Indian farm land which is about 142 million hectares, he said.
Promoting organic farming through ‘Parmparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana’ is a welcome step to help reduce cost of production and in turn reduce farmers’ financial burden. Soil and seed testing facilities are to be strengthened during the next three years. Ten lakh compost pits for production of organic manure will be set up, he said.