Context: Recently, the Government has formulated National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF) as a separate and independent scheme to motivate farmers to adopt chemical-free farming and enhance the reach of natural farming.

About National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF)

• Formulated as a separate and independent scheme from 2023-24 by upscaling the Bhartiya Prakritik Krishi Paddati (BPKP).

• The scheme is from 2023 to 2026.

Mission Objectives

• To promote an alternative system of farming for freedom from externally purchased inputs, cost reduction and thereby increasing income of farmers.

• To popularize integrated agriculture-animal husbandry models based on desi cow and local resources.

• To collect, validate and document Natural Farming practices.

• To undertake activities for awareness creation, capacity building, promotion and demonstration of Natural Farming.

• To create standards, certification procedures and branding for Natural Farming products for national and international markets.

Benefits to farmers

Incentive to farmers for one-time on-farm manure production infrastructure

• A financial assistance of Rs. 15000/- per ha @ Rs. 5000/- per ha/year for three years

• Training of Farmers by Champion farmers and CRP

Farmer Producer Organisations (FPO) formation for farmers practicing Natural Farming

• 100 FPOs in the Gangetic belt

• Another 400 FPOs across the country

Farmer Field School

• It will involve activities to create awareness.

About Bhartiya Prakritik Krishi Paddati (BPKP)

• It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS).

• It is a sub-mission under the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY), which falls within the umbrella of the National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA).

Objectives

• To improve farmers’ profitability, availability of quality food and restoration of soil fertility and farmland ecosystem as well as generate employment.

• Contribute to rural development.

• Promoting traditional indigenous practices, which give freedom to farmers from externally purchased inputs.

• It focuses on on-farm biomass recycling with major stress on biomass mulching

• Use of cow dung–urine formulations and Exclusion of all synthetic chemical inputs either directly or indirectly.

• Under BPKP, financial assistance of Rs 12200/ha for 3 years is provided for cluster formation, capacity building and continuous handholding by trained personnel, certification and residue analysis with a vision of covering 12 lakh ha in 600 major blocks of 2000 hectares in different states.

• The scheme is compliant with PGS-India certification under the PGS India programme.

• 8 States opted: Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh,  Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand.