Agartala: Tripura has successfully set up five bio villages which are perhaps the first of their kind in the country that has been set up by incorporating renewable energy. In a Facebook post, Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varman who also holds the department of Directorate of Bio-Technology wrote, “Congratulations to Directorate of Bio-Technology under my Science and Technology Dept.
Govt of Tripura for designing and setting up the first Bio Villages in the country. This has been recognized as one of the Best practices in the Indian States by an international group. These bio villages are examples of sustainable development goals (SDG) in some of the remotest areas of the state”.
While giving details about the project, an official from Science and Technology Department said that the department under the leadership of the Deputy Chief Minister, works for 10 bio villages are underway and one more will be set up soon.
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“Among these 10 bio villages, works of five bio villages have been completed. While work for others is going on in Charilam under Sepahijala district, in Bamutia under West district, Killa under Gomati, Ambassa in Dhalai, and Dumbur Nagar under Dhalai district. To my knowledge, this is for the first time such kinds of bio villages were set up in the Northeast region. Bio Villages are not new but this kind of bio village has some modifications. In earlier bio villages there was only organic farming but in our case, organic farming is just a component apart from this we have incorporated renewable energy,” he said.
With the intent to facilitate the sustainable development of agriculture and allied sectors in the state, the concept of 'Bio-Village' was first introduced by the Directorate of Biotechnology, Government of Tripura in 2018 with the primary objective of promoting organic farming. However, as the initiative evolved, components such as biogas, improved breed of livestock, solar-powered agricultural equipment, and energy-saving electrical devices were included to broaden the scope of the project in order to make it climate-smart.
The official further informed that for this project more than 500 households have benefitted. “The main objective is to promote green technologies like solar water pumps, biomass cookstoves, and biogas plants for sustainable production of agricultural and allied sector-related products. Enhance the socio-economic condition of small and marginal farmers with the application of simple biotechnological interventions like biofertilizers, biopesticides, and mushroom spawn cultivation”, he said.
