AP CM pitches for natural farming

By Our Special Correspondent

Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy sought a national policy for natural agriculture and sought weight age in the Finance Commission for states with larger area under natural agriculture. He was speaking online at the NITI Aayog meeting on nature farming on Monday.

The CM said that 6.31 lakh farmers cultivating 2.9 lakh hectares in AP - five per cent of the land under cultivation - have registered for natural farming in 2021-22 and the government is promoting the practice.

He said that farmers who do natural farming should be rewarded. The certification process of natural and organic farming should be farmer-friendly and this practice should be included in the curriculum of agricultural universities.

Institutional research should be done on natural agriculture and its benefits. The central and state governments are making allocations for sponsored projects in the ratio of 60:40, and they want to change it to 90:10 for natural agriculture.

Jagan Mohan Reddy said that there is a need to grow quality crops to reduce dependence on synthetic chemicals in agriculture and keep the society healthy. Organic farming is a critical innovation to improve farmers' livelihoods, protect people's food and nutrition security, avoid chemical ingestion through food, regenerate soil, enhance water conservation, and provide a variety of environmental benefits.

Jagan Mohan Reddy said that out of 10,778 Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs), 3,009 are practicing natural farming. He said that RBKs are playing a vital role in providing support to farmers doing natural farming. Programs were also organized.

Jagan Mohan Reddy said that the German government has agreed in principle to provide financial assistance of 20 million euros in five years to promote natural agriculture. An Indo-German Global Academy on Agro-Ecology Research and Learning will be set up, which will work to promote awareness of scientific methods in natural agriculture.

He said that partnership with international organizations like FAO, UNEP, ICRAF, University of Reading, University of Edinburgh, CIRAD (France), GIZ, KFW and certification of natural agricultural products at RBK level will boost natural agriculture.

NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr. Rajeev Kumar thanked the Chief Minister for taking steps to implement natural farming methods and setting up a special department in the Agriculture Department. He said that he visited RBKs and praised the services of the Chief Minister.

Chief Secretary Dr. Sameer Sharma, Special Chief Secretary to Chief Minister Dr. K.S. Jawahar Reddy, Special Commissioner of Agriculture CH. Harikiran and other officers participated in this meeting.