COIMBATORE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that the country is on the path to becoming a global hub for natural farming. Addressing a meeting after inaugurating the three-day South India Natural Farming Summit 2025 at Codissia Hall in Coimbatore, the PM said,
“The country’s biodiversity is evolving, and the youth are now viewing agriculture as a modern, scalable opportunity. This major shift will greatly strengthen the rural economy.”
Alluding to the NDA’s stunning victory in the Bihar poll and bright prospects for the alliance in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections in 2026, the PM referred to the waving of towels by farmers at the event as arrival of “Bihar winds” in Tamil Nadu. “I think the spirit of Bihar has arrived even before I did,” he quipped. The PM also said that he should have learnt Tamil in his childhood.
“A year ago, the central government launched the national mission on natural farming. The impact of this initiative is especially visible across South India, with approximately 35,000 hectares of land in Tamil Nadu alone now under organic and natural farming. Natural farming is an indigenous Indian concept not imported from elsewhere but born out of our tradition and aligned to our environment,” Modi said.
The prime minister also said that integrating the cultivation of millets with natural farming plays a vital role in protecting Mother Earth. He noted that in Tamil Nadu, Lord Murugan is offered ‘thenum thinai maavum’, a preparation made from honey and Shree Anna (foxtail millet flour).
Modi stressed that the government is committed to taking the superfood (millets) to global markets and emphasised that natural and chemical-free farming will play a significant role in expanding their international reach. The prime minister also urged the state government to promote multicropping on the lines of Kerala and Karnataka.
Learned a lot at Kovai farmers’ summit: Modi
The PM also released the 21st installment of PM-KISAN amounting to more than Rs 18,000 crore to support nine crore farmers across India and said that Rs 4 lakh crore has been directly transferred to the bank accounts of small farmers.
“Over the last 11 years, the country’s agricultural exports have nearly doubled, and the government has opened every avenue to support farmers.
Through the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme alone, farmers have received assistance exceeding Rs 10 lakh crore this year. The KCC benefits have been extended to livestock and fisheries sectors,” the PM said.
K Ramasamy, convener of the farming summit, urged Modi to give nationwide recognition to organic farming experts G Nammazhvar of TN and Subhash Palekar of Maharashtra. PR Pandian, president of the Coordination Committee of All Farmers Association of TN, urged the PM to confer Bharat Ratna on Nammazhvar.
Modi in his speech said that he should have learnt Tamil in his childhood as he could not understand the speech of PR Pandian, who spoke in Tamil with passion. Modi also visited the stalls exhibiting organic farming products.
“At the exhibition, I got an opportunity to speak to farmers. Some had pursued mechanical engineering and PhD and were then doing farming. Someone had taken up farming after leaving NASA. They also train several youths, and I have learnt a lot by attending the event,” he said.