Agartala: An organic certification agency will be set up in Tripura to promote organic farming in the Northeastern state, said a minister.
Information and Cultural Affairs minister Sushanta Chowdhury said the proposed agency will be responsible for all technological interventions related to organic cultivation and will provide guidance to cultivators to switch over to a new method of farming.
He said the agency will be established by the department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.
The minister said an area of about 2,000 hectares that is under organic cultivation in the Northeastern state will be increased to 21,000 hectares in the coming days.
Chowdhury said the government has been working tirelessly to materialize the dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of turning the Northeast into a hub of organic agricultural products.
Sikkim has already been declared as the country’s first fully organic state.
“In Tripura, the area under organic farming has increased substantially. The state is on the move to increase the area under organic farming as much as possible,” he said.
Chowdhury said fresh vegetables and fruits which are produced in the ecological system of cultivation will fetch a good price for the growers.
He said Tripura will promote organic farming to double the income of the farmers.
Once the agency is set up, the indigenous tribes will not find it difficult to receive notification on organic farming, said an official of the Horticulture Department.