In celebration of 75 years of progressive India, as a part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Agriculture vertical under NITI Aayog organized a national workshop, Natural Farming, and the country’s think tank also launched a website exclusively on natural farming.

The workshop was addressed by Shri.Ramesh Chand, Member (Agriculture) who in his address reminisced the journey of the nation that went from food deficient to food surplus highlighting the need of increasing farmers’ income. Chand also stressed on the scientific validation of natural farming practices.

Shri T. Vijayakumar, Vice Chairman, RythuSadhkar Sanstha, Andhra Pradesh, presided over the workshop's first technical session talking about Andhra Pradesh's natural farming experiences.

Shri Priya Ranjan, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, emphasized the Department of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare's schemes and endeavors to promote natural farming.

Dr. Ravi Prabhu, DDG, World Agroforestry Centre, ICRAF, highlighted the potential of natural farming in tackling global concerns in the agriculture sector.

The relevance of KVKs in demonstrating and disseminating natural farming practises was discussed by Dr. A. K. Singh, DDG (Agriculture Extension), ICAR. Dr. Rajeshwar Chandel, Executive Director of Himachal Pradesh's PrakritikKhetiKushhal Kisan Yojanaa, discussed natural farming for fruits and vegetables.

Prof. J. P.Sharma, Vice Chancellor, SKUAST, Jammu & Srinagar, conducted the workshop's second technical session, which featured experience sharing by farmers and KVKs from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Maharashtra, followed by an open house debate.

Whereas the website, launched by Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog, covers natural farming, including coverage of the practice in India, numerous plans and initiatives by the Central and State Governments, farmer success stories, and pertinent books, among other things.

Dr. Kumar discussed the sustainability issues associated with chemical agriculture in light of impending climate change, emphasizing the need to transition to natural farming in order to improve farmers' income, human health, soil health, and environmental conservation, as well as the need to spread this practice among the larger farmer community. He also urged the scientific community to support natural farming by providing scientific proof and a holistic cost-benefit analysis.

Soon presided by Shri Acharya Devvrat, Governor of Gujarat, who recalled his experiences on practicing natural farming. Devvrat argued that switching to natural farming from chemical farming resulted in significant cost savings, improved soil health, and higher yields.
He also noted that natural farming has an advantage over organic farming regarding lower material costs and labor costs.

Natural farming, according to Devvrat, is built on cutting-edge technologies and scientific ideas and Dr. Rajiv Kumar also made a note on this.

Masses comprising over a 1000 participants attended the session virtually from all across the nation, including state government and KVK officials, academics from ICAR and agriculture universities, and farmers.