Natural farming is helping growers fetch good prices for apples.Apples produced in their orchards with natural farming technique fetched over Rs 100 per kg.

The SPNF method is based on inputs made from desi cow dung and urine and some locally available resources. The farm inputs for the SPNF can be prepared at home.

Scientific studies in the state have shown that this farming technology has reduced the cost of apple cultivation by 56.5 per cent, while the net returns in the crop have increased by 27.4 per cent and even reduced the incidence of scab and marssonina blotch in apples.

According to data shared by the State Project Implementing Unit (SPIU), as many as 1,33,056 farmers are practising natural farming in Himachal Pradesh (partially or fully), covering an area of 7,609 hectares. This includes 12,000 apple orchardists. The farmers are able to take multiple crops on the same farm.

State Project Implementing Unit (SPIU) is looking for farmers for local marketing models, which they have developed on their own. Efforts to build their own linkages for marketing of natural produce had started yielding results.