Ganga River Banks to Go Green Through Organic Farming & Afforestation

Uttar Pradesh government plans to promote organic farming within a 10-kilometer radius of both banks of the Ganga throughout the state in order to accelerate efforts to clean the Ganga by reducing the inflow of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

The effort will take place on the banks of the Ganga in 27 districts across the state, including Bijnor, Badaun, Amroha, Meerut, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Farrukhabad, Kannauj, Kanpur city, Kanpur Dehat, Fatehpur, Prayagraj, Mirzapur, and Ghazipur.

While organic farming efforts were launched in the state during Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's first term, this move to ensure its implementation on the Ganga's banks is intended to ensure its uninterrupted flow, free of all pollutants.

As previously reported, this will be supported by afforestation efforts on 6,759 hectares along the river's banks over the next six months, and plantation drives will be held in 503 locations across different districts, beginning with Kasganj.

Organic farming, which has a high potential in the Gangetic plains due to soil changes caused by floods every year, is already being pursued in the state by 103,442 farmers in 3,309 clusters spread across an area of 63,080 hectares under the Namami Ganga Yojana.

Afforestation efforts are also planned along the Ganga's tributaries, with medicinal, rare, and traditional herbs being planted. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines organic farming as:

"Organic farming is a system that avoids or largely excludes the use of synthetic inputs (such as fertilizers, pesticides, hormones, feed additives, etc.) and relies on crop rotations, crop residues, animal manures, off-farm organic waste, mineral grade rock additives, and biological systems of nutrient mobilization and plant protection to the greatest extent possible."

In case of Afforestation, it is the establishment of a forest or stand of trees (forestation) in a previously unforested area. Many governments and non-governmental organisations are directly involved in afforestation programmes to increase carbon capture.