According to a state agricultural department official, a company in Maharashtra’s Latur district would operate 300 hectares of organic farmland. In order to produce crops in Chakur tehsil here without using pesticides, fifteen clusters of farmers have been organised for this effort, and each of them would get Rs 10 lakh over the next three years, he added.
“For agriculture, there is a massive usage of chemical fertilisers, insecticides, and herbicides. The state agricultural department is pushing organic farming as part of the Conventional Agriculture Development Plan (CADS) to prevent detrimental consequences from such products “added the official.
“On 300 hectares in the district, the Nalegaon-based enterprise would collaborate to adopt organic farming using the Agricultural Technology Management System. Each farmer’s cluster would get Rs 10 lakh, which will also include assistance for obtaining Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) accreditation “added he.
PGS is a quality control programme run by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare as part of the National Project of Organic Farming (NPOF). According to the official, these farmer groups would also get assistance with soil testing, green manure, establishing composition depots, and buying organic fertilisers.
Twenty farmers from the villages of Nalegaon, Ajansonda (Khurd), Sawantwadi, Hatkarwadi, Ukachiwadi, Hudgewadi, Limbalwadi, Sugaon, and Gharni make up each cluster, according to him. According to Dattatray Gavasane, project director for the Agricultural Technology Management System, “the goal is to deliver chemical-free products to customers.”