MISHTI, Amrit Dharohar, PM PRANAM ecological conservation initiative in the budget

Tags: Environment National News

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's budget speech launched various schemes and policies aimed at ecological conservation.

An overview of the news

• Targeting various ecological issues, these schemes come with the promise of preserving the ecological health of India.

• The newly introduced schemes are MISHTI, Amrit Dharohar and PM PRANAM.

MISHTI (Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes)

• This is a new scheme which will facilitate mangrove plantation on salt lands along the sea coast of India.

• The scheme will operate through “convergence between MGNREGS, Campa Fund and other sources”.

• It aims at intensive afforestation of coastal mangrove forests.

• There are such forests on both the east and west coasts of India, with the Sundarbans in Bengal being one of the largest mangrove forests.

Amrit Dharohar

• The scheme will be implemented over the next three years to encourage optimum use of wetlands and enhance biodiversity, carbon stock, ecotourism opportunities and income generation for local communities.

• It will emphasise on the importance of lakes and their conservation.

PM PRANAM (Prime Minister Programme for Restoration, Awareness, Nourishment and Amelioration of Mother Earth)

• The program will endeavour to encourage States and Union Territories promoting balanced use of alternative fertilisers and chemical fertilisers.

• It aims to reduce the subsidy burden of the government, which is estimated to reach Rs 2.25 lakh crore in 2022-23.

Bhartiya Prakritik Kheti Bio-Input Resource Centres

• To adopt "natural farming", 10,000 bio-input processing centers will be set up.

• These centers will form a nationally distributed micro fertilizer and pesticide manufacturing network.

• This will affect more than 1 crore farmers in the next three years.