Farmers Practicing Natural Farming in Himachal to Be Certified Under PK3Y in FY24

In 2023-24, Under Prakritik Kheti Khushhal Kisan Yojana (PK3Y) about 1.5 lakh farmers practicing natural farming in Himachal Pradesh would be certified.

As per the study, 28 per cent farmers have adopted natural farming techniques on their own through peer-to-peer learning without any training and therefore the target of PK3Y in this financial year will be consolidation of farmers practicing natural farming, said Rakesh Kanwar, Agriculture Secretary.

While addressing a meeting of the agriculture department officers to discuss the cluster-based agriculture development programme in the state, he said the initiative would be taken to certify about 1.5 lakh farmers practicing natural farming in 2023-24.

Adding to this, he said the focus should be on the consolidation of the existing farmers, expanding their area under natural farming, capacity building training, conducting refresher workshops, and exposure visits.

The success and response in results on the ground showed that everyone is convinced that natural farming technique is beneficial and "For the overall benefit in agriculture we just need to take the practice further," he added.

Kanwar asked the department officers to identify clusters, prioritize the issues and come out with a specific need-based budget for each cluster.

Naresh Thakur, State Project Director, PK3Y said that in 2022-23, PK3Y achieved the assigned targets. He said that under PK3Y, for natural yield over 51,000 farmers have been certified and the natural farming model villages in the state will also be strengthened.