Jharkhand aims to become prominent state for organic farming: Minister

Ranchi, Jun 14 (PTI) Jharkhand aims to become a prominent state for organic farming in the coming years, the state's agriculture minister Shilpi Neha Tirkey said on Saturday.

The state's farmers would soon be sent to different states such as Sikkim and Madhya Pradesh to learn best practices in organic farming, she said.

"Organic farming is in its early stages in Jharkhand. However, the department is actively encouraging farmers to adopt organic practices. We hope Jharkhand will be recognised as a leading organic farming state in the next few years," Tirkey said while addressing a buyer-seller meeting in Jharkhand.

It was organised to explore opportunities and prospects in organic farming in Jharkhand by the state agriculture department in association with the Organic Farming Authority of Jharkhand (OFAJ).

"There is a huge market for organic farming and profit is also high. But presently, we are not able to provide a market and price to the farmers engaged in organic farming," she told reporters on the sidelines of the programme.

"So, we have organised a buyer-seller meeting today. Buyers from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Hyderabad and other states participated in the meet and they got to know about the produce coming through organic farming," the minister said.

She said some buyers showed interest in visiting organic farms.

"They may also go for agreement. The government’s intention is to provide a market to the farmers. OFAJ will also prepare a standard operating procedure (SOP) and suggest government’s rule in market price intervention," Tirkey added. PTI SAN SBN SAN SBN