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In order to encourage organic farming, the central agricultural ministry will give subsidies for organic fertilizers, announced Prof. K V Thomas, Hon'ble. Union Minister of State for Agriculture, Food & Public Distribution. He was inaugurating the seminar on Organic farming conducted as part of the Karshikamela organised by Gandhiji Study Centre in Thodupuzha. India should be one of the countries that must lead the agricultural sector in the world, he said. But currently we are importing a lot of food products, edible oil and most of the pulses. In order to change this situation, the government of India has budgeted Rs. 25,000 Crores for the revival and development of it's agricultural sector, he said. He stressed the importance of making the agricultural sector profitable so that more people will be willing to enter this field.
In his speech, Sri P C Cyriac, IAS, former chairman of Rubber Board, said that India is producing 23.5 million tons of food products but that's still not enough to feed it's population. 2000 tons of Furadan is used in Kerala and that is causing drastic reductions in the bio contents of the soil, he said. He also said that we must consider re-organizing the Agriculture Department altogether.
People must convert the household waste to organic manure, suggested Dr. A Subramanian, Director, Tropical Botanical Garden & Research Institute, Palode. Agriculture will become profitable only by concentrating on value added products, he said. He also said that turning to organic farming will reduce the costs of cultivation. Extensive soil testing and effective supplementing is an absolute must for ensuring maximum yield and for maintaining sustainable and healthy soil.
Sri K Francis George, exMP, presided over the meeting. There were also speeches by Sri. P J Joseph, Hon'ble Minister for Public Works, Dr. K Ushakumari, Agricultural College, Vellayani, Adv. Joseph John, Sri. N Raveendran, Sri. C J Mathew Chengalam, K Salimkumar, James Panthakal and Mariamma Benny.
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