Natural farming is India’s answer to the world on food security, environment concerns: PM Modi

India’s advances in natural farming will show the world the path to achieve food security while keeping living in harmony with the nature, said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, appealing the country’s farmers gradually make a shift from chemical-based farming towards an agriculture using natural farming techniques.

“For the emerging possibilities of futures, we have to work today. At this landmark moment, India is well-positioned to provide the world a solution to the issues of food security in a better balance with the nature,” he said in a virtual address to the National Conclave on Natural Farming held in Anand on Thursday.

Modi reiterated his appeal to the world – made during Climate Change Summit – to make it a global mission to build “a lifestyle for environment.”

“I make an appeal to the investor community. This is the time to invest towards organic and natural farming methods and for the processing of the produces from such farming. There is a huge market not just in India, but world over, is waiting for us,”

Modi stated that India’s farmers will take a lead in natural farming and asked them to make a resolve on the occasion of Amrit Mahotsav (75 years of celebration) of India’s independence, “to liberate India’s soil from the chemical-based fertilizers and insecticides,” and unlearn some of the past practices while adopting the new learning.

Urges farmer to replace inorganic fertilizers with natural elements

Stating that the chemical fertilizers cause a huge economic burden on the farming community, Modi stated that “Atmanirbhar Bharat” (self-reliant India) is only possible if India’s farming and each farmer becomes Atmanirbhar. “It is possible only by replacing inorganic fertilizers and chemicals, with Govardhan (cow-based ingredients) natural elements to enrich our soil,” Modi said.

Through a series of innovations and policy interventions, farmers have now been provided with ample resources to make a choice on crop for production and its production methods. But amidst deteriorating soil fertility and depleting groundwater reserves, there would be even bigger challenges before the farmers. “It is true that chemical and fertilizers have played an important role in green revolution. But it is equally true that we have to look for its alternatives and start working towards that,” he said.

‘Time to get alert’

The imported chemical-based fertilizers have huge cost bearing on the governments and eventually on farmers for cost of farming, as about 80% of the farmers are small farmers having less than 2 hectares of land. This also causes inflationary pressure on the food for the poor. “It is time to get alert and act before it gets late,” Modi said.

Further, in order to provide a complete ecosystem of natural/organic farming, the government is working to create testing infrastructure for such products. Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah stated that in order to encourage natural farming, the government, through the cooperatives ministry would help building a web of testing laboratories, that will test the land and also certify the organic products. “So that the farmers get higher price in the international market. Organisations such as Amul are asked to work to realise this idea,” he said.

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The National Conclave was part of the three-day Agri Summit held between December 14-16 at Anand Agriculture University, Anand as a precursor to the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit. The event was attended by the Union Agriculture Minister Narendrasinh Tomar, Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel besides the agriculture ministers of Tripura and Bihar and other central government officials, farmers from Gujarat and other parts of the country, who joined virtually.