Chandigarh: Haryana Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi chaired a high-level meeting at the Haryana Civil Secretariat here today to deliberate on developing a coordinated framework for the certification, procurement and marketing of naturally and organically grown agricultural produce in the state.
The meeting focused on strengthening the institutional arrangements required to connect farmers practising natural and organic farming with reliable procurement systems and organised marketing channels, while ensuring quality assurance, traceability and remunerative returns to growers.
During the meeting, Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi directed officials to identify at least five crops suitable for cultivation under natural farming practices and prepare a comprehensive action plan for their production, promotion and marketing to enhance farmers’ incomes. He said that crops such as turmeric, red chillies and ginger could be considered under the proposed initiative, keeping in view their cultivation potential and market demand.
He also directed the Agriculture and Horticulture Departments to compile verified district-wise and crop-wise information on farmers and farmer groups engaged in natural and organic farming. The information would include the area under cultivation, certification status, estimated production and likely marketable surplus. The exercise would help identify suitable crops and production clusters for the proposed programme.
