G S Asgotra
Early Times Report
Jammu, Aug 28: With much hyped initiative by the farmers to switch over to organic farming in its nascent stage, the red tapeism in the agriculture department is likely to kill it in its infancy.
It is pertinent to mention here that just after assuming power in State in 2015, former Chief Minister late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had announced that three border villages of Jammu- Suchetgarh, Vidhipur and Kotranka Khurd would be developed for organic basmati on the pattern of Gujarat model.
In this regard, the coalition government had also announced special aid to organic basmati growers worth Rs Six Crores as subsidy for three consecutive years. The Agriculture Department was supposed to release Rs. two Crores rupees every year for basmati growers but ironically, this year's subsidy has still not been released by department so far. "Basmati growers feel cheated as they were not purchasing the requisite equipment and bio fertilizer for organic farming", said another grower, Roshan Lal.
They alleged that if the department has failed to provide special aid for organic basmati growers, then it would be more difficult to continue this type of farming in near future because it is not an easy deal for gullible farmers. |
