Niti Aayog will make waste land green with agroforestry (Grow) report and portal

The waste land of the country will now be made green with agroforestry. Niti Aayog has taken initiative in this direction. In which the work of planting saplings will be done by identifying the land with the agroforestry (Grow) report and portal. About 16.96 percent of the total geographical area (TGA) in the country is barren land.

Under the scheme, the use of remote sensing and GIS will be used in all the districts of the country to find out what kind of agroforestry can be done. A dataset will be prepared for this. Which will be known as an Agroforestry Suitability Index (ASI) for national level priority. This report analyzes according to the state and district, which supports government departments and government for greening and renewal projects.

This will be the benefit of the scheme

A portal will be prepared. https://bhuvan-app1.nrsc.gov.in /asi_portal/ (The portal is in the process of being prepared)

Information about barren land and the type of plants that would be suitable for planting on this land will be available. Now state and district level data can be viewed from anywhere on the portal. The timber industry has been demanding for a long time that timber should be grown on barren land. Now industrialists can decide through this portal that in which district of which state they can get information about barren land and the type of timber that can be grown there according to their industry.

Target to double the area of ​​agroforestry by the year 2030

At present, agroforestry is being done on only 8.65 percent of the total geographical area of ​​the country, i.e. about 284.2 million hectares. Now those areas will be identified where there is a possibility of agroforestry. In this way, the Grow initiative scheme aims to redevelop 26 million hectares of barren (fallow) land by 2030. In this way, the target of reducing 2.5 to 3 trillion tons of carbon dioxide has also been set.

Emphasis on the need to increase agroforestry

Niti Aayog member Professor Ramesh Chand said that there is a need to promote agroforestry in particular. It needs to focus on three things. Such as reducing the import of wood and wood products, sequestering carbon to tackle climate change at global and national level and making better use of arable land. Agricultural barren land can be converted for production use through agroforestry. He said that this project will provide long-term benefits and will promote the use of space technology in agriculture.

It is possible to double the income of farmers through agroforestry

The goal of the National Agroforestry Policy in 2014 is to increase productivity, profitability and sustainability by using barren land. Agroforestry integrates trees, crops and livestock, addressing food, nutrition, energy, employment and environmental challenges. It is in line with the Paris Agreement, Bonn Challenge, United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), doubling farmers’ income, Green India Mission and other such global commitments.