National Mission on Natural Farming
Bасkgrоund:-
- Natural farming is a chemical-free farming method based on locally available resources.
- It promotes traditional indigenous practices, which give freedom to farmers from externally purchased inputs.
- As Natural Farming does not use any synthetic chemicals, health risks and hazards are eliminated.
- Food has higher nutrition density and therefore offers better health benefits.
- Natural Farming aims to make farming viable and aspirational by increasing farmers’ net incomes due to cost reduction, reduced risks, similar yields, and incomes from intercropping.
Linkаges:-
- The NMNF is an upscaling of the Bhartiya Prakritik Krishi Paddati (BPKP), a sub-scheme under Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY).
- PKVY provides financial assistance to farmers who want to adopt organic farming practices and encourages them to use eco-friendly pest and soil fertility techniques.
- Climate-smart agriculture is an integrated approach to managing landscapes-cropland, livestock, forests, and fisheries-that address the interlinked challenges of food security and climate change.
Сurrent Sсenаriо:-
- The Government of India has launched the National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF) as a separate and independent scheme to promote chemical-free and climate-smart agriculture.
- NMNF will cover a 7.5 lakh hectare area by developing 15,000 clusters. The farmers willing to implement natural farming on their fields will be registered as cluster members; each cluster shall comprise 50 farmers or more with 50-hectare land.
- Under NMNF, farmers will receive financial assistance of ₹15,000 per hectare per year for three years to create on-farm input production infrastructure.
- A Web portal has also been launched to promote natural farming with information on the implementation framework, resources, implementation progress, farmer’s registration, blog, and so on.
Imрасt:-
- Ensures Better Health: As Natural Farming does not use any synthetic chemicals, health risks and hazards are eliminated. Food has higher nutrition density and therefore offers better health benefits.
- Increased Farmers’ Income: Natural Farming aims to make farming viable and aspirational by increasing the net incomes of farmers on account of cost reduction, reduced risks, similar yields, and incomes from intercropping.
- Rejuvenates Soil Health: The most immediate impact of Natural Farming is on the biology of soil on microbes and other living organisms such as earthworms.
Content contributed by- Jeffrey V