India: Tamil Nadu to unveil organic project
Dr Ramasamy said that various components of the policy, including the formation of a Department of Sustainable Organic Agriculture and establishment of a Directorate for Organic Agriculture, were under preparation and the policy was expected shortly.
On SUSTAIN, which envisages promoting sustainable agriculture and improvement of quality of life of farmers through solar drying and cold storage technologies, Dr. Ramasamy said the TNAU could assist in identifying suitable locations where the project could be rolled out across the State and in matching the right crop with the soil type.
Dr Ramasamy says that organic certification could help the region to compete more effectively in international markets.
Farmers’ collectives would be provided with Solar Drying and Cold storage energy efficient farming technologies that would help generate new and value-added products.
Sreenivas Narayanan of ASSIST, an international NGO and the third partner, said the project was significant in the context of India losing almost 40 per cent or 59 million tonnes of all agriculture produce due to wastage and spoilage every year, as a result of a fragmented supply chain, inefficient harvesting facilities and a lack of post harvest management solutions.
Source: thehindu.com
