Over 1.7 Lakh Farmers Adopt Natural Farming in Himachal Pradesh

By adopting natural farming, residents of Panjayanu village of Pangana sub-tehsil in Mandi district have set an example for others to follow.

A villager named Leena Sharma has encouraged others to adopt natural farming. She got the opportunity to participate in the training camp of agricultural scientist Padma Shri Subhash Palekar.

The camp was organized by the Department of Agriculture. She started natural farming in her fields after getting the training, and today 30 households have adopted natural farming thanks to her motivation and the state government's "Prakritik Kheti Khushal Kisan Yojana," which made this possible.

Another villager named Satya Devi has become a master trainer of natural farming.  In addition to traditional crops, the community also grows groundnuts, garlic, chilies, pulses, beans, tomatoes, brinjal, capsicum, linseed, and coriander.

The productivity and fertility of the fields have increased due to natural farming, and the farmers’ income has also increased.

Currently, 9.421 hectares are being cultivated by natural method by 1.71 lakh farmers of the state.   According to a state government spokesperson, the state government has set a goal of bringing 50,000 acres under natural farming by the years 2022–2023.

The Prakritik Kheti Khushal Kisan Yojana seeks to boost revenue by reducing crop production costs while protecting the soil and people from the negative effects of chemical farming. In addition to creating a natural farming model in each of the state's 3,615 panchayats, efforts are being made to transform 100 villages into natural farming villages.

The state has set a goal of creating 10 new FPOs (Farmer-Producer Organizations) based on natural farming to help the farmers become self-sufficient.