Odisha CM seeks UNEP's participation in organic farming

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday sought the participation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in organic farming in the state.

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Patnaik, who met UNEP Executive Director Erik Solheim at the State Secretariat here, said there is a lot of scope for organic farming in the state for which the government is interested in sustainable and climate resilient organic agriculture.

The Chief Minister said organic farming should be given importance in rain-dependent and tribal areas of Odisha where there is no application of chemicals in agriculture.

Maintaining that social and economic resources have been well-managed in Odisha, Solheim said that the UNEP is interested in various programmes in Odisha for the protection of the environment.

There is also scope for organic farming in the state and success in this regard can be achieved with cooperation from the state government. Such programmes have been successfully implemented in Indonesia, he added.

Solheim also held meetings with senior officials led by Chief Secretary A.P. Padhi.

The possibilities of future collaboration and partnership between the state government and UNEP were discussed.

Discussion in the meeting centred around achieving sustainable development through the application of green technology. Scaling up of solar energy, organic farming, and traditional agricultural potential of Odisha were pointed out in the discussion.

Padhi emphasized upon creating appropriate marketing mechanism for farmers so that they would take interest in production of the defined food grains and millets. Further, he suggested forming a joint committee for identification of specific areas for future collaboration.

--IANS

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