According to survey, just 19 per cent farmers are practicing organic farming in Rajasthan even as 91 per cent were aware of the ill-effects of chemical farming.
The fact came to the fore in a baseline survey conducted by CUTS International among 1,795 consumers, 644 farmers of 192 gram panchayats of 10 districts.
The survey also stated that, as much as 86 per cent consumers in the state are well aware about organic consumption. Additional Chief Secretary (Agriculture) Neelkamal Darbari said that, getting back to the Indian traditional organic farming is in the interest of the coming generations and is the need of the hour. She also said that a balanced approach between traditional Indian agriculture value system and modern technology was required in farming.
The consumption of chemical fertilisers in the country has been increasing along with level of agriculture production, said George Cheriyan, Director of CUTS International.
Agriculture production increased from 83 million tonnes in the 1960s to 252 million tonnes in 2014-15. Use of chemical fertilisers those containing Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium etc. increased from one million tonnes to 25.6 million tonnes in the same period.
In the consultation, officials from the department of Agriculture and Agricultural research Institute, Durgapura, CSOs working for organic farming along with more than 75 volunteers participated. To make a shift from conventional farming to organic farming, SJ Singh, Director, Rajasthan Agriculture Research Institute also appealed farmers.
Source: http://www.financialexpress.com/
