In news– The Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has inaugurated the online training program for master trainers on natural farming, organized by the National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE), Hyderabad.
About the training programme-
- As part of the programme trained master trainers will organize 750 awareness programs for 30,000 village heads across the country and help in taking forward the initiative of natural farming in their respective states.
- MANAGE has been entrusted with the task of organizing awareness programs in the country from April to August as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
- New Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) are being formed in each block by spending Rs. 6865 Cr. A total of Ten thousand FPOs will be formed.
- Through these, the knowledge of farmers will increase, they will be able to use new technologies, attracted to expensive crops and the quality of the produce will increase, which will increase their income.
Natural farming & initiatives related to it-
- Natural Farming is a chemical-free traditional farming method.
- It is considered as an agroecology based diversified farming system which integrates crops, trees and livestock with functional biodiversity.
- It is largely based on on-farm biomass recycling with major stress on biomass mulching, use of on-farm cow dung-urine formulations; periodic soil aeration and exclusion of all synthetic chemical inputs.
- It is a promising means of reducing the dependence of farmers on external inputs, reducing the cost of cultivation and increasing the income of the farmers.
- In India, Natural farming is promoted as Bhartiya Prakritik Krishi Paddhati Programme (BPKP) under centrally sponsored scheme- Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) and 4.09 lakh hectare area is covered under natural farming.
- BPKP is aimed at promoting traditional indigenous practices which reduce externally purchased inputs and has been adopted in the State of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala.
- An announcement has also been made in the budget for the year 2022-23 to promote natural farming and a committee has been formed to include courses on natural farming in universities in the states
About the National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE)-
- MANAGE was established in 1987, as the National Center for Management of Agricultural Extension at Hyderabad, by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India as an autonomous Institute.
- In recognition of its importance and expansion of activities all over the country, its status was elevated to that of a National Institute in 1992 and re-christened to its present name i.e., National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management.
- MANAGE is the Indian response to challenges of agricultural extension in a rapidly growing and diverse agriculture sector.
Source: PIB
