The district having one of the most picturesque sights with 7% of forest coverage, over 2200 species of flowers and more than 400 species of plants – Dangs, a tourism spot of India is to be declared as the first natural district of the country on November 19.
President Ramnath Kovind recently hosted the Governors Conference-2021 in which Governor of Gujarat -Acharya Devvarta presented the natural agriculture specialties taking place in the state. With the guidance of Gujarat’s Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Agriculture Minister Raghavji Patel, this decision has been made.
The farming district of Gujarat was declared completely chemical free by the Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister, Nitin Patel at the state budget on March 3. The tribals of the district depended on organic methods of farming however, the use of chemical fertilizers has increased in farming over the years which makes the district one-of-its-kind.
In the current financial year, the government allocated a budget of Rs 225 crore.
According to the sources, around 12,000 farmers of Dangs have been trying to engage in natural agriculture for the last two years and as per the estimated figures, about 19,600 hectares of land in Dangs is currently under natural or organic farming. The district contains a flower called anthurium which does not bloom for about 15 days. Moreover, about a dozen types of rice, chickpeas, nagli, rajgaro, urad, mug, groundnut etc. can be grown in this district.
Since organic farming does not use chemicals as fertilising materials, the prices of the products will be higher given that it would not contain toxic elements of other chemical fertilizers that could potentially harm the crop.
