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The policy, unveiled by Chief Minister MK Stalin, would work on providing safe, healthy and environment-friendly food.
Published Mar 15, 2023 | 1:09 PM ⚊ Updated Mar 15, 2023 | 1:09 PM
MK Stalin unveiling the Tamil Nadu Organic Farming Policy 2023. (mkstalin/Twitter)
Aimed at conserving soil health, agroecology and biodiversity, the Tamil Nadu government has rolled out the organic farming policy to achieve its goal of “chemical-free organic agriculture” in the state, thereby providing safe food to the people.
The policy unveiled by Chief Minister MK Stalin at the Secretariat on Tuesday, 14 March, would work on providing safe, healthy and environment-friendly food.
India occupies fifth place with a total area of 2.66 million hectares while Tamil Nadu holds 14th rank in organic farming across the country with 31,629 hectares of organic agriculture land, the policy said.
Madhya Pradesh has the largest area under organic certification followed by Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Karnataka.
வேளாண்மை – உழவர் நலத்துறை சார்பில் உணவுப் பாதுகாப்பை உறுதி செய்திடவும், நஞ்சற்ற இயற்கை வேளாண்மையை ஊக்குவிக்கும் வகையிலும் "தமிழ்நாடு அங்கக வேளாண்மைக் கொள்கை 2023" (Tamilnadu Organic Farming Policy 2023) மாண்புமிகு முதலமைச்சர் @mkstalin அவர்கள் வெளியிட்டார். pic.twitter.com/5kMeqNlHFU
— CMOTamilNadu (@CMOTamilnadu) March 14, 2023
In 2020-21, India produced around 3.48 million metric tonnes of certified organic products like oil seeds, cereals and millets, cotton, and pulses among others.
In terms of exports, processed foods (45.87 percent) lead among the products followed by oil seeds at 13.25 percent and cereals at 7.61 percent.
In 2020-21, Tamil Nadu shipped 4,223 metric tonnes of organic products worth ₹108 crore.
Some of the advantages of organic farming are that it improves and sustains soil fertility while minimising the use of off-farm resources.
“Organic farming creates a harmonious balance between crop production and animal husbandry and facilitates alignment of life with natural ecosystems and cycles. It also supports self-reliance and sustainability in farming,” the policy document said.
On the need for organic farming, the policy said many health issues noticed across the world were found to be residues of agrochemicals. It has been proven that pesticide residues cause many health hazards to humans and animals.
The World Health Organisation (WHO is promoting ‘One Health’ which necessitates organic farming to improve soil health. Tamil Nadu has great potential for the production and supply of organic produce in relation to the global demand, the policy said.
“This necessity for an environmentally safe food supply system has initiated the need for framing the organic farming policy which will ensure upscale and support the chemical-free organic agriculture in Tamil Nadu and to provide safe food for the people,” the policy said.
Organic farming would encourage mixed farming as the components are interdependent. Integrated organic farming systems would be popularised and season-based cropping system diversification would be adopted, it said.
Nutritional crops like millets, pulses and vegetables will be encouraged to ensure nutritional security. Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) would be promoted to reduce the input cost towards the purchase of inorganic fertilisers and pesticides, it said.
Various committees, including a high-level team headed by the Chief Secretary, would be formed to review the policy every five years and a steering committee would be formed to monitor the implementation of organic farming policy and finalisation of schemes.
A district-level committee headed by the collector with members from various departments and institutions would be formed, it said.
(Disclaimer: The headline, subheads, and intro of this report along with the photos may have been reworked by South First. The rest of the content is from a syndicated feed, and has been edited for style.)
