Lucknow, May 23 (IANS): The Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government is promoting organic farming and afforestation along the banks of the Ganga in order to make the river cleaner, free of pollution caused by chemical fertilisers and toxic pesticides and ensure its uninterrupted flow.
Moving a step further from the initiative launched in this regard during its first term, the government seeks to encourage organic farming within a radius of 10 km on both the banks in 27 districts through which the Ganga passes in the state.
The government has set afforestation target on 6759 hectares along the banks of Ganga, spread over 503 places in different districts through which the river Ganga flows in the next six months.
This will not only help in increasing the forest cover and improving climate, but also prevent soil erosion reducing severity of floods in these areas. The government has already launched plantation drive in Kasganj and some other areas in this context.
The maximum area of organic farming in Uttar Pradesh falls in the Gangetic plains only.
The Chief Minister started organic farming by 103,442 farmers in 3,309 clusters covering an area of 63,080 hectares falling under Namami Ganga Yojana of a total of 4,784 clusters covering 95,680 hectares and involving 175,000 farmers.
In organic farming, chemical fertilisers and toxic pesticides are replaced by completely organic products for increasing the yield and protecting the soil. Since the soil of Gangetic Plain gets changed due to floods every year, there is a lot of potential for organic farming in the entire region.
The state government has also planned intensive afforestation drive not only along the banks of Ganga but also along the banks of its tributaries.
It aims to plant saplings of medicinal, rare and traditional plants along the banks of river Ganga and its tributaries.
The larger part of the Gangetic Plain within India is located in Uttar Pradesh.
The river flows through 27 districts including Bijnor, Badaun, Amroha, Meerut, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Farrukhabad, Kannauj, Kanpur city, Kanpur Dehat, Fatehpur, Prayagraj, Mirzapur, Ghazipur, among others.