In order to boost organic farming in all nine hill districts, chief minister Harish Rawat on Thursday issued instructions to officials to waive off 5% Value Added Tax (VAT) levied on different food products like biscuits, namkeen and other related products that are made of organic food grains grown locally in the hill districts.

Among the items on the list are Mandua, Jhingora,Chelay, and Phapher. Addressing a meeting of officials, Rawat said the exemption is a part of a state-sponsored scheme to encourage local residents to go for organic farming in the hills. The CM also asked officials to prepare a proposal within a week to utilize sizeable tracks of barren agriculture land lying in hill districts to grow organic crops.

He said that the state government will soon open markets in nearby areas where organic crops are grown in order to boost sale of these crops to domestic tourists and other visitors in the region.

"If organic farming of these local crops are developed in the form of cluster farming, it will not just boost organic farming but make available these pure food products to people at cheaper rates than those prevailing in the market", the CM said.