Cabinet launches National Mission on Natural Farming with investment outlay of Rs 2,500 crore

Ashwini Vaishnaw

The government on Monday announced a national mission to promote natural farming among one crore farmers across the country with a budget outlay of Rs 2,481 crore. The decision, taken in the Cabinet meeting headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, aims to create an ecosystem for sustainable farming.

The scheme has a total outlay of Rs.2481 crore (Government of India share – Rs.1584 crore; State share – Rs.897 crore) till the 15th Finance Commission (2025-26).

"There is a need to improve the quality of soil and maintain the health of the people with chemical-free food...The National Mission on Natural Farming is a path-breaking decision," Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said in a media briefing after the meeting. The mission, with a budget outlay of Rs 2,481 crore, will cover 1 crore farmers across the country, he added.

"NMNF aims at promoting NF practices for providing safe & nutritious food for all. The Mission is designed to support farmers to reduce input cost of cultivation and dependency to externally purchased inputs. Natural farming will build & maintain healthy soil ecosystems, promote biodiversity and encourage diverse cropping systems to enhance resilience as suitable to the local agroecology are the benefits of natural farming. NMNF is launched as a shift to scientifically revive and strengthen agriculture practices towards sustainability, climate resilience and healthy food for farmer families and consumers," according to a statement.

In the next two years, NMNF will be implemented in 15,000 clusters in gram panchayats, which are willing, & reach 1 crore farmers and initiate natural farming (NF) in 7.5 lakh Ha area. Preference will be given to areas having prevalence of practising NF farmers, SRLM / PACS / FPOs, etc. Further, need-based 10,000 Bio-input Resource Centres (BRCs) will be set-up to provide easy availability and accessibility to ready-to-use NF inputs for farmers.

Under NMNF, around 2000 NF Model Demonstration Farms shall be established at Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), Agricultural Universities (AUs) and farmers’ fields, and shall be supported by experienced and trained Farmer Master Trainers. The willing farmers will be trained in Model Demonstration Farms on the NF package of practices, preparation of NF inputs, etc. near their villages in KVKs, AUs and practising NF farmers’ fields. 18.75 lakh trained willing farmers will prepare inputs like Jeevamrit, Beejamrit, etc. by using their livestock or procure from BRCs. 30,000 Krishi Sakhis/ CRPs will be deployed for awareness generation, mobilisation and handholding of willing farmers in the clusters. Natural Farming practices will help farmers to reduce input cost of cultivation and dependency on externally purchased inputs while rejuvenating soil health, fertility & quality and building resilience to climate risks like waterlogging, flood, drought, etc.

Farmers will be provided with an easy simple certification system and dedicated common branding to provide access to market their natural farming produce. Real time geo-tagged & referenced monitoring of NMNF implementation shall be done through an online portal.

Convergence with existing schemes and support structures of the Government of India/ State Governments/ National & International Organisations shall be explored for enhancing local livestock population, development of NF Model Demonstration Farms at Central Cattle Breeding Farms/ Regional Fodder Stations, provide market linkages at district/ block/ GP levels through convergence for local farmers’ markets, APMC (Agricultural Produce Market Committee) Mandis, Haats, Depots, etc. Additionally, students will be engaged in NMNF through the RAWE program and dedicated Undergraduate, Postgraduate & Diploma courses on NF.