Use of organic fertilisers has raised farm yield: Government

NEW DELHI: Government today said it is promoting use of organic fertilisers and studies have shown that farm yields have not fallen where use of chemical fertilisers was restricted.

Rural Development Minister Birender Singh told Lok Sabha a scheme to empower woman farmers has made positive impact as it supplements their income and use of manures like cow dung is encouraged under the scheme.

"Yields have not gone down. It has come up... where chemical fertilisers were not used," he said during Question Hour.

Singh said government has identified over 10 crore houses where women were involved in farming and eight crore such households could be covered by Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojna ( Woman Farmers Empowerment Scheme). Three crore of them are "ultra poor", he said.

Government has so far approved 56 such projects, he said. Singh also said government would supply drinking water across the country by 2022 and 90 per cent households would be covered by piped water.

Currently, he said, there are 11 drinking water projects being implemented across the country with the help of foreign aid.