Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare inaugurated the online training program for the master trainers on natural farming, which was organized by the National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE) in Hyderabad.
Tomar stated on the occasion that MANAGE has been tasked with organizing 750 awareness programmes for 30 thousand village heads across the country from April to August as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. According to Tomar, natural farming methods are extremely beneficial to farmers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to Union Minister Tomar, has taken the initiative to promote traditional natural farming in the country. Keeping the importance of natural farming in mind, a national conference on natural farming was held in Gujarat on December 16, 2021, under the leadership of the Prime Minister, and lakhs of farmers attended. Natural farming is a promising method of reducing farmers' reliance on external inputs, lowering cultivation costs, and increasing farmers' income.
To promote traditional indigenous practices, the government is promoting the Indian Natural Farming System (BPKP) as a sub-scheme of the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY). In the coming days, trained master trainers will organize 750 awareness programmes for 30,000 village heads across the country, assisting in the advancement of the natural farming initiative in their respective states.
Natural farming covers 4.09 lakh hectares of land. In addition, an announcement was made in the budget for the fiscal year 2022-23 to promote natural farming. A committee has been formed to include natural farming courses in state universities.
Tomar stated that there was a time in the country when there was a scarcity of food grains, and that research and chemicals were used to increase production, but that this was necessary at the time, and that India is now in a very good position in terms of agricultural production and export.
The central government is making significant efforts to assist farmers in moving forward through various schemes. "The government wants us to be less reliant on imports, but our export expertise should continue to grow. The use of animals, including cows, will increase as natural farming methods become more popular, benefiting farmers," he stated.
The Minister went on to say that the government has launched an initiative to integrate agriculture with modern technologies, which will require state cooperation. Each block is forming new Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) with a budget of Rs. 6865 Cr. A total of 10,000 FPOs will be formed.
Farmers' knowledge will improve, they will be able to use new technologies, they will be drawn to expensive crops, and the quality of their produce will improve, increasing their income. He asked all master trainers to devote their lives to advancing the government's important initiative on natural farming in various ways.
Kailash Choudhary, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, and Shobha Karandlaje were also present. Union Agriculture Secretary Manoj Ahuja, Joint Secretary Priya Ranjan, and Director General of MANAGE Dr. P. Chandrashekhar spoke at the start of the session. MANAGE will provide online training to two hundred fifteen master trainers on the subject of introduction-principle and practice of natural farming, which will be completed by August 15th.
