Chhattisgarh government's 'Mukhyamantri Vriksha Sampada Yojana' praised by 'Rally for Rivers' campaign | 06 Apr 2023

Why in News?

According to the information received from the Public Relations Department of Chhattisgarh on 04 April 2023, on the initiative of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, the 'Mukhyamantri Vriksha Sampada Yojana' started in Chhattisgarh to increase the income of farmers and improve the environment was appreciated by the 'Rally for Rivers' campaign.

Key Points

• 'Rally for Rivers', a campaign launched by Sadhguru Sh. Jaggi Vasudev of Isha Foundation to create public awareness about the plight of the country's rivers and to get people's support to change the policies of the government to conserve rivers.
• 'Rally for Rivers' has also tagged an advertisement based on the scheme released by the Government of Chhattisgarh on the occasion of the launch of Mukhyamantri Vriksh Sampada Yojana with its tweet.
• Significantly, the 'Mukhyamantri Vriksha Sampada Yojana' launched in Chhattisgarh is the first major campaign at the national level to promote commercial tree plantation on a large scale. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel launched this scheme on 21 March 2023, on the occasion of World Forestry Day.
• Under this scheme, Chhattisgarh has a target of planting 15 crore trees of identified species in one lakh 80 thousand acres of private land in five years. So far, 23 thousand 600 farmers in the state have registered for commercial tree plantation on 36 thousand 230 acres of land.
• Through this scheme, farmers are expected to earn an income of 15 to 50 thousand rupees per acre annually. Apart from this, farmers will also get income through carbon credits.
• In this scheme, there is a provision to give a 100 percent subsidy to the beneficiaries who do commercial tree plantation on five acres and a 50 percent subsidy to the beneficiaries who plant more than five acres.
• Farmers, interested landowners, government, semi-government and autonomous institutions of government, private educational institutions, private trusts, panchayats and land contract holders can take advantage of this scheme.
• For the first time in the 'Mukhya Mantri Vriksha Sampada Yojana', a guarantee has been given for the purchase of trees of identified species at the minimum support price. Under the scheme in Chhattisgarh, 12 types of trees will be planted this year.
• In these, plants of Clonal Eucalyptus, Root Shoot Teak, Tissue Culture, Sandalwood, Melia Dubia, Normal Bamboo, Tissue Culture Bamboo, Rakta Chandan, Amla, Khamar, Shisham and Mahaneem etc. will be planted.
• Apart from being economically beneficial for the beneficiaries, this scheme will also prove to be important from the point of view of environmental protection and soil health. This scheme will also give a boost to wood-based industries.