Bihar to formulate agroforestry policy soon: Sushil Modi

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi today said that an agroforestry policy will be formulated soon to spur integrated farming in order to raise farmers' income and green cover in the state.
"We need to formulate an agroforestry policy on the lines of Government of India's Agroforestry Policy 2014 if we have to increase farmers' income apart from increasing state's green cover," he said.
The deputy chief minister, who also holds the portfolios of environment and forest and finance, stressed on the need to have an integrated farming to increase the income of farmers.
One can't be dependent on agriculture by simply indulging in the traditional cultivation of paddy and wheat, he said while emphasising that farmers will have to adopt agroforestry under which they would plant various trees which they can sale as 'wood' after some years when they get mature.

There are 15 types (species) of trees - such as poplar, semal, mango, guava, jamun, eucalyptus, etc - which farmers can sell without any permit, he said.
The DyCM was addressing a two-day national conference on "Agroforestry Systems For Water Stressed Areas" organised by Forestry Research and Extension Centre, Patna and Institute of Forest Productivity, Ranchi.

Stating that agroforestry has also helped in increasing the state's green cover which has increased to around 15 per cent in 2017 from 9.79 per cent in 2011, the minister said that out of 24 crore trees that were to be planted under Hariyali mission, 18.47 crore trees have been planted between 2012-17.

In the same period, 70512 farmers have planted six crore trees as part of agroforestry scheme, he added.
Farmers don't need to worry as to where they would sale their produce (trees) once they mature, Sushil Modi said adding that country's first e-mart will be launched at Bazar samiti premises at Hajipur by the end of the current fiscal where sellers and buyers of wood gather and fix the price.
The environment and forest department has made e-market website and Apps for the timber mart, he added.
He also asked the Environment and Forest Department principal secretary Tripurari Sharan to organise a day-long conference on agroforestry where farmers will be told about the benefits and significance of agroforestry.

The DyCM said that only seven per cent of the total foodgrains produced in the country are purchased at Minimum Support Price while 93 per cent of the produce don't get the benefit of MSP.
Rajendra Prasad Central Agriculture University, Pusa, Bihar Vice Chancellor R C Srivastava and others also addressed the seminar.