In the 2022 budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that “chemical-free natural farming will be promoted throughout the country, with a focus on farmers’ lands in 5-km wide corridors along river Ganga, at the first stage.” Nearly 3.8 million hectares, or 2.7% of the total area under farming in India, is farmed organically or through natural methods. But experts are divided on whether a complete transition to natural and organic farming would work in India’s favour, especially if it is pushed top down, and follows a rigid definition of what natural farming entails.
In a multi-part series, IndiaSpend will explore the different facets of natural farming, its implementation in India and the possibility of success. In this first part, we explain what natural farming is, and where it is being practised in India.