In October, , The Government of India introduced a new scheme called Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY). Under this scheme, Members of India's Parliament need to identify and develop one village from their constituencies. To begin with, MPs can develop one village as a model village by , and two more by , covering over , villages in India. According to the scheme, the village can have a population of , - , in the plains and , - , in the hills and should not be MPs' own or their spouse's village.
MPs are expected to facilitate a village development plan, motivate villagers to take up activities and built infrastructure in the areas of health, nutrition and education. Source: accessed on October agriculture is a whole system of farming that restores, maintains and enhances the ecological balance. There is an increasing demand for organically grown food to enhance food safety throughout the world (see Box . ).
Benefits of Organic Farming: Organic agriculture offers a means to substitute costlier agricultural inputs (such as HYV seeds, chemical fertilisers, pesticides etc.) with locally produced organic inputs that are cheaper and thereby generate good returns on investment. Organic agriculture also generates income through exports as the demand for organically grown crops is on a rise. Studies across countries have shown that organically grown food has more nutritional value than chemical farming thus providing us with healthy foods. Since organic farming requires more labour input than conventional farming, India will find organic farming an attractive proposition.
Finally, the produce is pesticide-free and produced in an environmentally sustainable way (see Box . ). Popularising organic farming requires awareness and willingness on the part of farmers to adapt to new technology. Inadequate infrastructure and the problem of marketing the products are major concerns which Box .
: Organic Food Organic food is growing in popularity across the world. Many countries have around per cent of their food system under organic farming. There are many retail chains and supermarkets which are accorded with green status to sell organic food. Moreover, organic foods command higher price of around -