By Vivek Tripathi
Lucknow, Dec 19 (IANS): The Uttar Pradesh government is planning to promote organic farming within a radius of 5 kilometres of the Ganga so as to increase the income of the farmers settled on both sides of the river.
The Agriculture and Horticulture Department along with the Jal Shakti Ministry has already started working on the plan. The farmers will be provided training about organic farming of grains, fruits and flowers along with necessary equipments required for organic farming.
Along with this, the government is also looking forward to clean the Ganga as it has decided to ban the usage of chemical fertilisers in the fields within a 5-km radius of the Ganga.
With this, the Yogi government is looking to cover three aspects at once. First, it is looking forward to cleanliness of Ganga, secondly it is aiming to increase the income of the farmers and thirdly it is planning to produce large quantity of organic crops in the state.
According to officials of the Jal Shakti Ministry, we along with the Agriculture and Horticulture Department will provide a large market to the farmers for their organic crops so that they get better price for their crops.
A senior official of the Namami Gange Department said the usage of chemical fertilisers is a major reason behind pollution in Ganga. The state government is planning to ban them completely.
UP Minister and state government spokesperson Siddharth Nath Singh said, "The Yogi government is committed to pollution free Ganga while ensuring the progress of the farmers. The government is introducing the schemes aiming for the same."
He added that apart from prohibiting usage of chemical fertilisers, Peepal, Mango, Jamun and Banyan trees will be planted on both sides of the river to avoid erosion. For this, a 'Ganga nursery' will be developed in every district. Geo-tagging of all the trees planted on the sides of the river will be done with the help of the forest department. A campaign will also be launched to remove encroachments on the banks of the Ganga.