The area under organic farming is increasing in Punjab with more farmers adopting this method to grow vegetables, fruits and cereals. Officials of the Organic Farming Council of Punjab said they had registered farmers practicing organic farming on more than 5,000 acres in the state. The figure is likely to cross 6,000 acres soon. Senior resource person Dr Madhu Gill of the council said in addition to various NGOs creating awareness among farmers to go organic, the council has been helping them get their farms certified. She said the council, established in 2006 by the Punjab Government, helps farmers get their fields certified free of cost so that they can sell their produce as organic products. It takes three years for a farm to turn completely organic. For the first year, farmers get a C-one certificate for not using chemicals. They get C-two and C-three certificates after two and three years respectively. District Officer Jaspal Singh said earlier, farmers used to grow organic vegetables, fruits and cereals for their own consumption. Now in view of handsome returns on their organic produce, they have started selling the same in the market as well. He said around 1,000 farmers in Punjab have registered themselves with the council and the maximum - 70 - are from Sangrur district. A large number of citrus fruit growers from Ferozepur too have registered themselves with the council.