Natural and Organic Mandis to be established in Gurugram and Hisar
Punjab Newsline, Chandigarh, June 5 -
In a major push to promote natural farming on a large scale in Haryana and raise awareness among farmers, Chief Minister Sh Nayab Singh Saini announced the establishment of natural and organic mandis in Gurugram and Hisar. The Gurugram mandi will cater to produce such as wheat, paddy and pulses, while the Hisar mandi will focus on fruits and vegetables grown through natural and organic methods. In addition, a committee will be formed under the Haryana Kisan Kalyan Pradhikaran to determine fair pricing for produce grown using natural and organic farming practices.
The Chief Miniser made these announcements while addressing the Natural Farming Conference, organized on the occasion of World Environment Day at Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar today.
He further announced financial support of Rs 20,000 per farmer for branding and packaging of natural farming products. Dedicated laboratories will also be established to test produce from natural and organic farming. These labs will offer testing services free of cost to farmers.
The Chief Minister also announced that 53 acres of land belonging to the Agriculture Department in Block Pundri, district Kaithal, will be leased to farmers engaged in natural farming through an auction process. Furthermore, he said that in every panchayat, 10% of panchayat land or at least one acre will be reserved exclusively for natural farming. This land will be allotted only to landless farmers via auction.