Tripura expands natural farming to 5,000 hectares, GI tag for Sobri banana, scented lemon in progress

Tripura Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Ratan Lal Nath on Saturday informed that the state has started cultivating natural farming on around 5,000 hectares of land for the first time and said that the GI Tag for the state’s Sobri Banana and Scented Lemon has been filed and is under process.  

Minister Nath said this while inaugurating a pineapple processing centre at Bisramganja under Sepahijala District.

“If we use chemicals in the field, it will badly harm the future. That is why Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stressed organic cultivation. Before 2018, 2,000 hectares of land were used for organic cultivation, and from 2018 till now, around 20,160 hectares and 19,916 farmers are engaged in it. Now we are moving towards natural farming, which was never there before. We have set a target of 5,000 hectares for natural farming. Though we are focusing on increasing production, we must also stress natural and organic farming. We must keep the soil and land healthy by providing soil health cards, and based on this, agricultural scientists will help. Now we are also stressing scientific agriculture,” he said.  

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The Minister said that India is now self-sufficient in crops, milk, fish, etc., but is facing a shortage of edible oil, which needs to be procured from outside the country.  

“We are also stressing this as well. Prime Minister Modi has been working for the benefit of farmers. Our government has been working to double farmers' income. The work of FPC is to promote organic farming, which was not available before 2018. This is the first time any FPO has opened a pineapple processing centre, which is organic. The GI Tag for Sobri Banana and Scented Lemon is under process. We want to put our state’s products on the world map,” he added.