VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has reiterated that his government is giving top priority to the welfare of the farmers and natural farming. Participating virtually in a national workshop on natural farming organised by NITI Aayog, he said a national policy should be introduced to encourage natural farming. Rewards should be given to farmers practising natural farming and weightage should be given in the recommendations of the Finance Commission to the states which are implementing natural farming in larger areas, the Chief Minister suggested.
He said the process of certification to natural and organic products should be farmer-friendly and they should be added as a part of courses in agriculture universities. “Institutional research should be continued on natural farming and studies should be conducted on the impact of natural farming products and synthetic chemicals products on the health of the people. The allocations of sponsored projects are in 60:40 ratio by Central and State governments and it should be changed to 90:10 for natural farming,” he demanded.
The Chief Minister appreciated the initiative of NITI Aayog for convening the national workshop on innovative agriculture and highlighting natural farming. He said there is a need for quality reap of the crop to keep the society healthy by reducing the dependency on usage of synthetic chemicals in agriculture. “Natural farming is a critical innovation for improving the livelihoods of the farmers, for protecting food and nutrition security of the people, avoiding chemical intake through food, regenerating soil, enhancing water conservation. It also has a wide range of ecological benefits,” he added. According to him, in Andhra Pradesh, 6.3 lakh farmers have registered for natural farming in 2.9 lakh hectares in 2021-22 and it is in practice in 3,009 of 10,778 Rythu Bharosa Kenras (RBKs). It is being implemented in five percent of the land under cultivation.
“RBKs are playing a vital role in extending support to the farmers practising natural farming and added that awareness programmes on natural farming are being held through them,” he said. He said the German government has agreed in principle to provide financial aid of 20 million euros in five years to promote natural farming in AP. It will set up the Indo-German Global Academy on agro ecology research and learning, he said, adding that the academy will work to impart scientific methods in natural farming.
“Partnership with international institutions like FAO, UNEP, ICRAF, University of Reading, University of Edinburgh, CIRAD ( France), GIZ, KFW and certification to natural farming products at RBK level will increase the area of cultivation under natural farming,” he said.
NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr Rajeev Kumar thanked the Chief Minister for taking measures to implement natural farming methods in the state and creating a separate division for it in the agriculture department. He said he personally visited RBKs and praised the Chief Minister for the services of the RBKs. Chief Secretary Dr Sameer Sharma, Chief Minister’s Special Chief Secretary Dr K S Jawahar Reddy, Agriculture Special Commissioner Ch Hari Kiran and other officials were present in the meeting.
Points to ponder
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy met AP High Court Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra at State guest house in Vijayawada on Monday
They discussed the agenda for the Chief Ministers and Chief Justices Meeting to be held at Vignan Bhavan in New Delhi on April 30