UP government to develop ‘food forests’ in 15 districts, including Gorakhpur
U.P. government’s ‘Food Forest’ project is an innovative environmental protection, food security and livelihood initiative.
The Uttar Pradesh government is rolling out a ‘Food Forest’ project as innovative environmental protection, food security, and livelihood initiative. For this, the government has identified 15 districts of different agro-climatic zones.
Food forests will be developed in these districts in the next six months with the help of local farmers, said a government statement on Tuesday.
“The state government’s forest and environment department will execute the project. Plants will be selected according to the agro-climatic zone of the district. The districts identified for this project are Bijnor, Amroha and Saharanpur of the mango belt, Sambhal, Rampur, and Badaun of the guava belt. Similarly, other districts are also included in one or the other fruit belt. Apart from being eco-friendly, these parks in themselves will also be an example of agricultural diversification,” said the statement.
Plants will be selected according to the agro-climatic zone in the food forest. Pulses crops will also be planted for nitrogen fixation naturally. For example, mango, guava, pomegranate and papaya saplings will be planted in the first phase of the food forest to be developed in Gorakhpur, the statement added.
In the second cycle, saplings of Jamun, ‘Ber (jujube) will be planted. In the third cycle, pulses like tur, moong, urad, peas and gram will be sown. In the fourth phase, herbal plant parks like lemongrass, tulsi, and ashwagandha will be set up. In the fifth cycle, vine species like Giloy, Grapes, Dambooti etc will be planted.
Similarly, the selection of plants will be according to the different agro-climatic zone. Bird’s droppings will act as a natural fertilizer. Bees and butterflies will naturally pollinate the flowers. The primary aim of the government is to increase the income of the farmers. This is possible only through agricultural diversification instead of the traditional cultivation of paddy-wheat.
These parks will be an example in themselves. Not only this, raw materials will be available from these parks in future for the processing units. Along with the area of fruitful plants, greenery will also increase. Food parks will be built in these cities in the initial phase: Bulandshahr, Saharanpur, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Bijnor, Amroha, Moradabad, Sambhal, Rampur, Bareilly, Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Pilibhit, Gorakhpur and Gautam Budh Nagar.