Himachal to Buy Organic Cow Dung at Rs 3/kg

Shimla, Nov 5 (PTI) Tenders have been floated for buying organic cow dung at Rs 3 per kg, and the successful bidders will also provide bags, transportation and stocking facilities, State Agriculture Minister Chander Kumar said on Tuesday.

With a thrust on organic farming, hi-tech techniques will be used in agriculture to increase farmers' income, he said, adding that the monthly income of a farm family should be between Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 to sustain agriculture.

The Congress party had promised to buy cow dung at Rs 2 per kg before the last assembly polls, but we do not wish to buy raw cow dung and would purchase organic cow dung for Rs 3 per Kg, he told PTI.

Organic cow dung is a natural and nutrient-rich fertiliser that can be used to improve soil health and plant growth.

"Tenders have been floated for buying organic cow dung for Rs 3 per kg, and the company entrusted with the task would provide bags, fill and seal them besides providing transportation and stocking facility and would be paid Rs 4-5 per kg," he noted.

The stocking of cow dung will also be done in Himachal Pradesh State Co-operative Marketing & Consumers Federation Ltd (HIMFED) godowns, and the deputy directors in all districts have been directed to bring in use the defunct agri farms, the minister said.

The production of organic crops in those defunct agri farms will start with assured irrigation through contract farming on a no-profit-no-loss basis to motivate other farmers towards organic agriculture practices.

Further, newly recruited staff in the agriculture department would be sent for training in land use planning, soil fertility, three-dimensional mapping and crop pattern so that remote sensing techniques could be used for tracing clusters at the micro level to grow cash crops as per the suitability, increasing farmers income, he added.