NITI Aayog organizes knowledge sharing workshop
Recently NITI Aayog organized knowledge sharing workshop and launched special website on natural farming.
Natural farming can be defined as chemical free farming and livestock based farming.
It is also known as zero budget natural farming. It is a diversified farming system. It integrates crops, trees and livestock. This leads to optimum utilization of functional biodiversity.
Subhash Palekar, G. Nammalvar and Acharya Devavrat are some of the important contributors in the field of natural agriculture.
Natural farming focuses on increasing the income of farmers. It also provides many other benefits, such as restoration of soil fertility and environmental health and reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
It is promoted as ‘Bhartiya Prakritik Krishi Padhati’ (BPKP) under the centrally sponsored scheme, Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY).
The objective of BPKP is to promote traditional indigenous practices/traditions based on biomass recycling on agricultural land with emphasis on mass mulching and use of a combination of cow dung and urine.
It prohibits the use of all types of synthetic chemical inputs.
Numerous studies have confirmed the effectiveness of natural agri-BPKP in terms of increased production, sustainability, water saving, soil health and improved agricultural ecosystem.
Source – The Hindu
