CM Jagan for natural farming policy

VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy sought a national policy for natural farming and sought weightage in the Finance Commission to states with large areas under natural farming. He was speaking online at a Niti Aayog meeting on natural farming on Monday.

The CM said 6.31 lakh farmers tilling 2.9 lakh hectares in AP — five per cent of the land under cultivation — had enrolled for natural farming in 2021-22 and the government was encouraging the practice.

He said farmers practising natural farming should be rewarded. The process of certification of natural and organic farming should be farmer-friendly, and the practice should be added to the curriculum of agriculture universities.

Institutional research should be conducted on natural farming and its benefits, he said. The allocations of sponsored projects were being done in 60:40 ratio by Central and state governments and it should be changed to 90:10 for natural farming.

Jagan Mohan Reddy said there was a need for quality harvest to keep society healthy by reducing dependency on synthetic chemicals in agriculture. Natural farming was a critical innovation for improving the livelihood of the farmers, for protecting food and nutrition security of the people, avoiding chemical intake through the food, regenerating soil, enhancing water conservation and also for a wide range of eco friendly benefits.

Jagan Mohan Reddy said natural farming was being practiced in 3,009 of 10,778 Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs) and. He said RBKs are playing a vital role in extending support to the farmers practising natural farming. They were also holding programmes.

Jagan Mohan Reddy said the German government had agreed in principle to provide financial aid of Euro 20 million over five years to promote natural farming. The Indo-German Global Academy on Agro Ecology Research and Learning would be set up, which would work to impart knowledge of scientific methods in natural farming.

He said partnership with international institutions like FAO, UNEP, ICRAF, University of Reading, University of Edinburgh,  CIRAD ( France), GIZ, KFW and certification to the natural farming products at RBK level will increase natural farming.

Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Dr Rajeev Kumar thanked the Chief Minister for taking measures to implement natural farming methods and creating a separate division for it in the agriculture department. He said he had visited RBKs and praised the Chief Minister for its services.

Chief Secretary Dr Sameer Sharma, Chief Minister's Special Chief Secretary Dr K.S. Jawahar Reddy, Agriculture Special Commissioner C.H. Hari Kiran and other officials were present in the meeting.