India - Union Agriculture Minister Mr. Narendra Singh Tomar chairs steering committee meeting of National Natural Farming Mission

On November 4, Union Agriculture Minister Mr. Narendra Singh Tomar chaired first steering committee meeting of National Natural Farming Mission at Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi. In the meeting, Mr. Tomar launched the NMNF portal. He said that the mission of natural farming in the country would be taken forward with everyone’s cooperation. In this regard, he asked the officers to coordinate with the State Governments and Central Departments and enable market linkage so that the farmers get more ease in selling their products. Union Rural Development Minister Mr. Giriraj Singh and Jal Shakti Minister Mr. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Uttar Pradesh Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi, Union Agriculture Secretary Mr. Manoj Ahuja and senior officers of various ministries attended the meeting.

The portal launched on November 4 (http://naturalfarming.dac.gov.in/) has been developed by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. It contains all the information about the mission, implementation outline, resources, implementation progress, farmer registration, blog etc., which will be useful for the farmers. Also, this website will help in promoting natural farming in the country.

In the meeting, Union Minister Mr. Giriraj Singh said that good initiatives have been taken to promote natural farming. He also gave his suggestions in this regard in the meeting. Jal Shakti Minister Mr. Shekhawat said that under the guidance of Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi, work is being done for natural farming on the banks of Ganga. The Ministry of Jal Shakti has made a roadmap by identifying 75 Sahakar Ganga villages in the first phase by signing an MoU with Sahkar Bharti and training has been given to the farmers.

UP Agriculture Minister Mr. Shahi said that under the Namami Gange Project, promotion of natural farming has been started in the state. A target has been set to work in every block and master training has been done.

It was informed in the meeting that more than 4.78 lakh hectare additional area has been brought under natural farming in 17 states from December-2021. 7.33 lakh farmers have taken initiative in natural farming. About 23 thousand programs have been organized for the sanitization and training of farmers. Natural farming is being implemented in 1.48 lakh hectares on the banks of river Ganga in four states.