Natural farming has picked up in Himachal: Agriculture secretary

Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 4

A two-day capacity building workshop on the Prakritik Kheti Khushal Kisan Yojana (PK3Y) began at Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, in Solan on Monday.

Smart agriculture

It is time to move from chemical, rainfed and subsistence agriculture to sustainable and smart agriculture with focus on natural farming. — Rakesh Kanwar, Agriculture secretary

“Natural farming has already picked up in the state after the launch of the PK3Y in 2018. It is time to go beyond and the field functionaries should now look at what difference it is making when we don’t use chemical fertilisers or pesticides,” said Agriculture Secretary Rakesh Kanwar in his presentation on ‘Agriculture-An Overview’.

Over 250 functionaries of the Agriculture Technology Management Agency and other officers associated with natural farming attended the workshop.

Kanwar said natural farming answers critical questions troubling agriculture and some validation studies by the PK3Y had already reflected that. He added the PK3Y was now working on certification of natural produce, establishing marketing mechanism, forming farmer producer organisations and further expansion to take forward the concept of natural farming.

He said the Central Government’s focus was on ensuring nutrition, not just food security with agriculture, which is climate resilient, protects environment, enhances farmers’ income, improves livelihood standards and builds up sustainable food systems. “To achieve all this, it is time to move from chemical, rainfed and subsistence agriculture to sustainable and smart agriculture with focus on natural farming,” he added.

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