Himachal set to emerge as natural farming hub : Governor

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Himachal Governor Acharya Devvrat said that with the efforts of the state government, Himachal Pradesh is soon set to emerge as natural farming hub and as a role model for other states of the country. He was speaking after inaugurating the six-day long training camp on Subhash Palekar natural farming model under Prakritik Kheti, Khushhal Kisan Yojana organised by state agriculture department at CSK Agriculture University, Palampur today.

He said that the concept of natural farming was introduced around three years back in the state and he himself started it as a campaign and today it is showing productive results. He expressed happiness that the state government has been working in mission mode to give boost to natural farming in the better interest of the farmers.

Acharya Devvrat urged the farmers to adopt natural farming in a big way to enhance crop production and earn better prices for their produces in the market. He said natural farming is the only way out to double the income and bring prosperity to the farming community.  

He appealed to the farmers from and outside the state attending the training camp to take full interest in learning the concept of natural farming and impart training further to the farmers of their concerned Gram Panchayats. 

Earlier, Agriculture Minister Dr. Ramlal Markanda said that the state government is laying special emphasis on promoting natural farmers and a provision of Rs. 25 crore was made for this sector in the first budget. He said various training camps and seminars had been organise across the state during last 16 months to facilitate the farmers. He added that the state government has set a target to make Himachal as natural farming state which would be realised by year 2020.

Recipeint of Padamshree award Dr. Subhash Palekar, who is the originator of natural farming, detailed about the procedure and benefits of this method of farming. He also appreciated the efforts of the state government in this direction.