Bijnor: The price of sugar may be tumbling with each passing day, but the jaggery produced in an obscure farm in Afzalgarh area of Bijnor is selling like hotcakes in the Middle East and Europe.The 745-acre farm was established many years ago but at that time sugarcane was grown by the inorganic method. Organic farming was the brainchild of Karun Agarwal, 40, assistant manager of the farm, four years ago. The farm management says that no pesticide or insecticide has been used here ever since.Agarwal started farming here with the sole intention of growing organic cane and wheat, which now has started bearing fruit. The farm got ISO certification from Uttarakhand State Organic Agriculture Certification Agency four years ago. Since then, running in the form of a trust — Ram Ganga Farms — it began producing jaggery that gradually became a hit in foreign markets.Talking to TOI, district cane officer (DCO) OP Singh said, “The price of jaggery produced normally hovers around Rs 30 per kg, while this one commands a price of Rs 100. The jaggery produced in the farm is marketed to Singapore, UK and Gulf countries. They have their own kolhus installed in the farm where jaggery is prepared.”The DCO added, “The farm owners plant sugarcane only after treating it in hot water at 50 degrees centigrade, which takes care of diseases including red rot, grassy shoot, top borer. The land is tilled deep so that insects and worms come out to the upper layer. Later, they are eaten by birds. In addition, biopesticides and cow urine are used on the crops.”Karun Agarwal said, “In the beginning, we started gifting jaggery to our friends and some relatives living abroad. Later, it became a popular item in other countries.”While several farmers in Bijnor have been growing organic sugarcane, Ram Ganga Farms is the first one which has been growing the crop at such a large scale.” The crop yield is 700 to 800 quintals per hectare.

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