New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed farmers and scientists pan India on Thursday in the ongoing summit on natural and zero-budget farming being held in Gujarat.
PM Modi said that in the last seven years the Centre has introduced several reforms in the agricultural sector and urged the farmers to shift their focus from 'chemistry lab experiments' to 'natural farming' methods.
"Natural farming will benefit the country's 80% small-scale farmers the most. These farmers have less than 2 hectares of land and spend a lot on chemical fertilizers... but using natural fertilizers will benefit them," PM Modi said at National Summit on Agro & Food Processing.
He furthered, "The time has come to shift our focus from 'Chemistry lab experiments' to natural farming methods in the agriculture sector to support our environment. We have to take our agriculture out of the lab of chemistry and connect it to the lab of nature. When I talk about nature's laboratory, it is completely science-based."
PM also added, "We have to also get rid of mistakes in farming techniques. Experts say that burning the farm causes loss of land fertility. But it has become a tradition to burn crop stubble..."
According to the Prime Minister's Office, farmers will be provided with all the required information detailing the benefits of adopting natural farming methods.
"Zero Budget Natural Farming is a promising tool to minimize the dependence of farmers on purchased inputs and reduces the cost of agriculture by relying on traditional field-based technologies which lead to improved soil health. Desi cow, its dung and urine play an important role from which various inputs are made on the farm and provide necessary nutrients to the soil. Other traditional practices such as mulching the soil with biomass or keeping the soil covered with green cover around the year, even in the very low water availability situations, ensure sustained productivity even from the first year of adoption," PMO had said in a statement.
The national three-day summit on natural farming which had begun on December 14, concludes today and the Prime Minister virtually addressed the farmers.
