Parliament Question: Promotion of Natural Farming

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 331 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11TH AUGUST, 2026 PROMOTION OF NATURAL FARMING *331. SMT. KAMALJEET SEHRAWAT: SMT. SANJNA JATAV: Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ िष एवं िकसान क(cid:670)ाण मं(cid:361)ी be pleased to state: (a) the details of the initiatives undertaken by the Government to promote natural farming practices in the country during the last three years, State and district-wise, particularly in Jharkhand, Karnataka, Alwar, Deeg and Bharatpur districts under the Bharatpur Lok Sabha Constituency and Shahdol and Nabarangpur Lok Sabha Constituencies; (b) the total area brought under natural farming and the number of farmers adopting such practices, State and gender-wise, including Jharkhand, Odisha, Karnataka, Palghar district of Maharashtra and Nabarangpur Lok Sabha Constituency; (c) whether the Government has undertaken any assessment of the impact of natural farming on crop productivity, input costs and farmers' income; (d) if so, the details thereof, State and district-wise including Nabarangpur Lok Sabha Constituency; and (e) the details of the future action plan for promoting natural farming in Kutch district, including the training, incentives and marketing support being provided to farmers? ANSWER MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ िष एवं िकसान क(cid:670)ाण मं(cid:361)ी (SHRI SHIVRAJ SINGH CHOUHAN) (a) to (e): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.STATEMENT IN RESPECT OF PARTS (a) TO (e) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 331* DUE FOR ANSWER ON 11TH AUGUST, 2026 REGARDING “PROMOTION OF NATURAL FARMING”. (a) & (b): The Union Cabinet approved the National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF) on 25th November 2024 to promote Natural Farming. Till date, 24,102 clusters have been formed covering 12.60 lakh Ha area, 26.76 lakh farmers enrolled, 8,100 Bio- Input Resource Centres (BRCs) established and 40,182 Krishi Sakhi/Community Resource Persons (CRPs) deployed under the Mission. State/UT wise details including the States of Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Odisha, Karnataka and Maharashtra is given at Annexure – I. District wise data as well as gender data is not maintained centrally. The details of NMNF in the Bharatpur, Shahdol and Nabarangpur Lok Sabha Constituency and Palghar District till date is as under: Lok Sabha District Area Covered (Ha.) Farmers Constituency benefitted 1. Bharatpur Alwar 2200 5500 Deeg 2200 5500 Bharatpur 2150 5375 2. Shahdol Shahdol 1250 3125 Anuppur 2500 6250 Umaria 1250 3125 katni 1250 3125 3. Nabarangpur Nabarangpur 1150 2875 4. -- Palghar 1300 3250 (c) & (d): Indian Council of Agricultural Research has initiated a study in 2020-21 through All India Network Programme on Natural Farming (previously AINP-Organic Farming) with 20 cooperating centres covering 16 States to evaluate 8 major cropping systems. Study also includes development of package of practices under Natural farming. The Study involves 11 State Agricultural Universities, 8 ICAR institutes/centres and 1 deemed to be university. Study shows that if natural farming is adopted with the correct techniques and in a balanced manner, yields improve. Experiences of many farmers have also reported improving soil health improved crop quality, taste, and long- term yield. Furthermore, reducing chemical costs increases farmers' net profits. Mulching in natural farming helps maintain soil moisture, control weeds, and increase organic matter in the soil. This increases the activity of soil microorganisms and improves soil health. Multi-cropping increases biodiversity in the field, reduces the incidence of pests and diseases, and improves nutrient utilization. State wise districts covered in the study are at Annexure-II. The findings of the Study are as below; (i) Under the network research, crop system-based natural farming packages have been developed for various states, such as groundnut + sesame – fennel + cabbage (Rajasthan and Gujarat), soybean + maize – wheat + mustard (Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh), and cassava (Kerala). (ii) In Bajaura (Himachal Pradesh), Almora (Uttarakhand) and Gangtok (Sikkim), the average system productivity (soybean equivalent) of 6475 kg/ha/year wasrecorded in the soybean + maize – vegetable pea + coriander (green leaf) crop system (in 5 years) under completely natural farming, which was about 5 percent higher than organic farming/integrated crop management. (iii) In Bhopal and Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh) and Raipur (Chhattisgarh), the average system productivity (soybean equivalent) of 3346 kg/ha/year was recorded in the soybean + maize – wheat + mustard crop system (in 5 years), which was found to be equivalent to integrated crop management and organic farming. (iv) S.K. In Nagar (Gujarat), Ajmer, and Udaipur (Rajasthan), the average system productivity (cowpea equivalent) of 9209 kg/ha/year was recorded in the cowpea + maize/peanut + sesame – fennel + cauliflower/cabbage cropping system (in 5 years) under complete natural farming. This was found to be comparable to integrated crop management. (v) Natural farming (NF) management has shown a clear improvement in soil health indicators. Soil organic carbon (SOC) levels increased in natural farming fields over a period of 2–3 years. For example, in trials conducted in the Himalayan regions, SOC increased from approximately 0.90% to 1.15%. The number and diversity index of microorganisms in natural farming soils was found to be higher than in soils cultivated with chemical fertilizers. The abundance and balanced distribution of beneficial bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes were observed, indicating the development of a healthy soil ecosystem over time. This increase in organic matter and microorganisms in the soil under natural farming improves nutrient cycling and soil structure, laying a strong foundation for long-term soil fertility and crop production sustainability. Further, NITI Aayog Assessment Report states that approximately 91.2% of farmers adopting natural farming experience, increased crop productivity and significantly improved soil health. 90.1% of farmers reported that adopting natural farming has reduced input costs (production costs). (e): Under NMNF, cluster level training is conducted for Community Resource Persons (CRPs) and farmers on the practices of natural farming. Such CRPs and farmers are trained by the Scientists and Farmer Master Trainers (FMTs) at Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), State Agricultural University (SAU) & Local Natural Farming Institution (LNFI) about the practices and benefits of Natural Farming. The scheme also includes a provision for an Output Based Incentive of ₹4000/- per acre, per year to a farmer for 2 years (up to 1 acre per farmer). As reported by the State of Gujarat, 46 clusters have been formed covering 5750 acre area and benefiting 5750 farmers in Kutch district.Annexure - I State/UT wise details of area brought under natural farming and the number of farmers adopting such practices till date S. State/ UT Farmer Enrolment Area covered No. (in Ha) 1 Andaman & N Islands 500 200.00 2 Andhra Pradesh 655659 434156.56 3 Arunachal Pradesh 22982 8805.32 4 Assam 8234 4884.10 5 Bihar 62565 26855.31 6 Chhattisgarh 73215 31505.42 7 Delhi 375 150.00 8 Goa 1623 630.89 9 Gujarat 151108 61919.23 10 Haryana 13600 10703.21 11 Himachal Pradesh 76628 27852.32 12 Jammu & Kashmir 26591 10905.05 13 Jharkhand 14312 5686.88 14 Karnataka 154401 58136.80 15 Kerala 19638 7560.11 16 Ladakh 621 175.62 17 Madhya Pradesh 197661 91199.66 18 Maharashtra 274875 109950.00 19 Manipur 16077 6364.63 20 Meghalaya 19517 3223.40 21 Mizoram 37878 15800.14 22 Nagaland 35373 14423.12 23 Odisha 75371 30148.40 24 Puducherry 772 256.25 25 Punjab 6418 2122.48 26 Rajasthan 266596 112865.58 27 Tamil Nadu 8072 3509.91 28 Telangana 77205 39699.13 29 Tripura 33643 11188.99 30 Uttar Pradesh 290500 116200.00 31 Uttarakhand 29782 10066.55 32 West Bengal 25000 3600.00 Total 26,76,792 12,60,745.03Annexure-II Crop productivity and soil organic carbon status of major cropping systems under natural farming. Sl. ICAR Institute/university Cropping systems No. evaluation under natural farming 1. Hill Agricultural Research and Extension Centre, Soybean + maize (2:1) CSHPKVV, Bajaura (Himachal Pradesh) -vegetable pea+ green 2. ICAR-RC-North Eastern Hill region, Sikkim Centre, coriander (2:1) Gangtok (Sikkim) 3. ICAR-Vivekananda Parvatiya Krishi Anusandhan Sansthan, Almora (Uttarakhand) 4. ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal Soybean + maize (4:2) (Madhya Pradesh) – wheat + mustard 5. Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidayalaya, (8:2) Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh) 6. Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Raipur (Chhattisgarh) 7. ICAR-NRC on Seed Spices, Ajmer (Rajasthan) Cowpea + maize (4:2) 8. Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and / Groundnut + Sesame Technology, Udaipur (Rajasthan) (6:2)– Fennel + 9. Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural cauliflower/cabbage University, SK Nagar (Gujarat) (2:1) 10. ICAR-Central Tuber Crops Research Institute, Cassava +vegetable Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) cowpea (1:2) - greengram 11. Dr Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth Rice +dhaincha (3:1)- Regional Station, Karjat (Maharashtra) maize+cowpea 12. Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi (Jharkhand) (fodder) (2:1) 13. Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute, Narendrapur (West Bengal) 14. ICAR-Indian Institute of Spices Research, Calicut Turmeric + cowpea (Kerala) (1:1) - greengram 15. ICAR-RC-North Eastern Hill Region, Umiam (Meghalaya) 16. ICAR-Indian Institute of Farming Systems Research, Maize + cowpea Modipuram (Uttar Pradesh) (fodder) (1:1) – wheat 17. Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana + chickpea (2:2, bed (Punjab) planting) 18. GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar (Uttarakhand) 19. Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore Cotton + green gram (Tamil Nadu) (1:1) - sorghum 20. University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad +chickpea (1:1) (Karnataka) ****