Centre plans to offer sops for natural farming under national mission

The central government is considering offering sops to farmers to adopt natural ways of farming, which will be part of a soon-to-be-launched national mission, reported The Economic Times (ET) on Monday. The Centre is considering incentives, including monetary support for farmers to buy good quality seeds and natural manure as well as for marketing support for products, the report stated. 

A final call on the same will be taken soon, a senior government official told ET.

The mission will lay out a roadmap for the adoption of sustainable and cost-effective natural farming techniques, the official told the newspaper. 

Natural Farming is a chemical-free alias traditional farming method. It is considered an agroecology-based diversified farming system that integrates crops, trees, and livestock with functional biodiversity, according to NITI Aayog. Currently in India, natural farming is promoted as Bharatiya Prakritik Krishi Paddhati Programme (BPKP) under the centrally sponsored scheme Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY). 

The Centre's proposed plan also aims to open up export avenues of naturally produced agricultural commodities. The mission could also include other support measures, such as marketing, the official told ET. 

"The government is looking at giving fiscal incentives to farmers to take up natural farming while facilitating backward linkages for them with gaushalas (cowsheds) for procurement of traditional manure,"  the official said.

The NITI Aayog and the agriculture ministry have held several rounds of discussions on natural farming practices with global experts. 

Earlier this year, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech announced the government's resolve on a natural farming initiative. She had said, "Chemical-free natural farming will be promoted throughout the country, with a focus on farmers' lands in 5-km wide corridors along river Ganga, at the first stage."

The Centre has covered 650,000 hectares of farmland under natural farming under the pilot project. The mission seeks to expand the area to 2 million hectares in the next five years.