The three-year-old state of Uttaranchal is going organic. Announcing this at a seminar, chief secretary of the state, R S Tolia, said organic agriculture was the only way for the farmers of the hill state. "Our fields are fragmented, production is low and remuneration poor. If the governments helps farmers through the expensive and difficult process to certify their produce as organic, and then can get the private sector to invest in marketing it, their earnings would rise," he said. Tolia said the state would not allow genetically modified crops.
Farmers of Dhanpao village of the Jaunsari tribe in Dehradun district have already gone organic. This has resulted in an immediate decrease in the yield, especially of the high-value ginger crop.
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