Dharmanagar:Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Ratan Lal Nath on Wednesday said the present government is working tirelessly for the overall development and welfare of farmers, with special emphasis being placed on natural farming systems for the conservation of agricultural land.
The Minister was speaking after inaugurating a one-day district-level workshop on the “Khet Bachao Abhiyan” (Save the Farmland Campaign) and natural farming, organised at Ragna Higher Secondary School in Dharmanagar. He informed that 284 schemes are currently being implemented in the state through joint Central and State government initiatives, aimed at the development of the last-mile beneficiary, most of which were launched during the tenure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Nath said the nationwide campaign, running from June 1 to June 30, aims to protect farmland and promote natural farming amid declining soil fertility caused by rapid environmental changes and excessive chemical fertiliser use. He informed that natural farming is currently practised on around 5,000 hectares in Tripura, with a target to expand this to 16,000 hectares by year-end, while organic farming overall has grown from about 2,000 hectares before 2018 to over 26,000 hectares now.
He added that elected representatives are being encouraged to adopt natural farming on their own land to inspire ordinary farmers, with regular meetings being held at panchayat, panchayat samiti, and district council levels, involving scientists from Krishi Vigyan Kendras.
The Minister further said the government aims to ensure farmers’ all-round development and make India one of the world’s top developed nations by 2047, noting India’s economy has risen from 11th to 4th globally since 2014.