Agartala: Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Sunday said his government is committed to double the income of farmers in the state by 2025 and has taken several initiatives for the purpose.
Addressing a programme on the occasion of the 75th Independence Day, he said the government has brought 4,000 hectares of land under organic farming in the current fiscal and the average income of farmers has reached Rs 11,096 per annum from Rs 6,580 in 2015-16.
“We are committed to double our farmers’ income by 2025 and have taken several initiatives for this,” the chief minister said after hoisting the Tricolour at the Assam Rifles ground here.
He also stated that the government has introduced a mission for the commercialisation of jackfruit and pineapple.
“We have initiated a plan to bring 3,600 hectares of land for commercial production of jackfruit and pineapple as there is huge scope for exporting the fruits abroad,” he said.
In the last 3 years, the state shipped out 33.65 metric tonne of pineapple to foreign countries.
Tripura Agar Wood Policy 2021 was announced in July, and 50 lakh saplings will be planted by the next five years, which will help earn Rs 2,000 crore from the sector by 2025, Deb said.
The government has also planned to expand areas under rubber cultivation.
“About 30,000 hectares of land would be brought under rubber cultivation by 2025,” he said.
An agreement was signed among the Centre and the governments of Tripura and Mizoram in January 2020 to solve the 23 -year-old ‘Bru refugee’ problem.
According to the agreement, 37,136 displaced Brus from Mizoram will be rehabilitated at 12 places of Tripura, Deb said.
The central government has sanctioned Rs 600 crore as a rehabilitation package for the displaced Brus.
The CM said the ‘Moitree Bridge’ on the Muhuri river has been completed to strengthen the connectivity with Bangladesh.
The 15-km long Agartala-Akhaura rail line to connect with the neighbouring country would be completed soon, he added.