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Wild crop harvesting boost

By Mowsam Hazarika |

The Centre has launched a centrally sponsored Scheme named as Mission Organic Value Chain Development for the North Eastern states during to develop crop commodity specific organic value chain and address gaps in organic crop production. It further aims at wild crop harvesting, organic livestock management and processing handling and marketing of organic agricultural products through the developing crop specific organic production clusters with necessary infrastructural, technical and financial support by facilitating partnerships between farmers and organic businesses. This includes Local enterprises and / or Farmer Producer Companies based on back-to-back long-term trade relations with clients in domestic and export markets. This will help the farmers by providing enabling environment for project initiatives and development programs with necessary support for organic value chain development and create market access.

It will empower producers with program ownership by organizing them into FIGs with the final aim to federate into farmer producer organizations/ companies and replace conventional farming/subsistence farming system into local resource based, self sustainable, high value commercial organic enterprise. Developing commodity specific commercial organic value chain under integrated and concentrated approach with end-to-end facilities for production, processing, storage and marketing and develop organic parks/zones with facilities for collection, aggregation, value addition, processing, storage and market-linkages for specific commodities requiring capital intensive technology.

The scheme will provide the region products as brands/labels through brand building and facilitating stronger marketing access under the ownership of growers‟ organizations/ companies.

Apart from it, this will focus on creating state specific lead agency (Organic Commodity Board or Organic Mission) for coordinating, monitoring, supporting and financing the development and operationalization of entire value chain.

Assam has identified the areas with feasibility of organic farming in 10 clusters in 9 different districts in Chirang, Cachar, Dhemaji, Majuli, Kamrup, Sonitpur, Kokrajhar and Nalbari and Golaghat with a target to attain a total of 5000 Ha of area and 5000 farmers in different clusters.

Dhemaji(Butikar areas), Majuli (Pokajora areas) and Golaghat(Kaziranga areas) clusters are, selected for Red Rice and an area will also be covered in Kaziranga crop for Black Rice. Districts like Golaghat (Podumpather areas), Kamrup (Sonapur areas), Kokrajhar(Titagiri areas) and Chirang(Panbari areas) are specified in Ginger and Turmeric also Bokakhat and Sonipur followed by Turmeric and Ginger cultivation.

Bihaguri cluster of Sonitpur District specified in Okra and Ridge gourd, along with Ginger cultivation. Cacher in Lakhipur cluster mainly focused on Pineapple as their major crops.

The farmers of the clusters will be organized to Self Help Groups and finally they will be registered under Society registration Act as Farmers Producers Companies. The Farmers growers will also be certified as Organic growers sothat their produces may be marketed as certified organic. For better marketing of the organic produces Branding, labeling, Value addition and processing facilities will be created .

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