Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has said that the government attaches a lot of importance to the organic farming in the country. Replying to questions in the Rajya Sabha today, Mr Pawar said, the allocation of funds for promoting organic farming had been increased since 2007. He said last year, a total of 351 crore rupees had been released to the states. The Minister said the government is promoting organic farming through National Project on Organic Farming (NPOF) through various schemes of Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA). He said NPOF scheme provides financial assistance through capital investment subsidy for agro-waste compost production units, bio-fertilizers, bio-pesticides productions units, development and implementation of quality control regime, human resource development. The Agriculture Minister said the government is spreading awareness about organic farming through various extension activities including Kisan Melas.