Kangra, Feb 27 (IANS) Graduates and postgraduate farmers from Kangra district in Himachal Pradesh, who have adopted Subhash Palekar Natural Farming (SPNF) technique, converged near here on Sunday at a workshop organized by Prakritik Kheti Khushhal Kisan Yojana (PK3Y) for young entrepreneurs in natural farming.
The workshop, which was presided over by Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, was attended by a good number of young women farmers among others.
The farmers shared experiences in natural farming, the need-based innovations on their farm and the challenges in it before the Governor, who was impressed with their zeal to shift to non-chemical farming.
“You have inspired me a lot with your field stories. You are the real ‘karamyogis’. I am very happy that the farmers from Himachal Pradesh are leading the country in natural farming,” said the Governor.
He said he was touched by the expression of the farmers, who said that they have shed the use of chemicals and have adopted natural farming technique because they are concerned about the nutrition of coming generations. “It is very important what we are going to give to our younger generations,” he said.
The Governor said the natural farming concept is being adopted in the entire country in the interest of farming, nutrition and health.
“We need not to be disappointed by the younger generation as many people generally talk about. I can see a lot of hope here as young and educated entrepreneurs have chosen to do farming and are doing good work in the field,” he said.
Arlekar said it was a matter of pride that 1.68 lakh farmers have adopted SPNF technique in Himachal Pradesh and said there is need to expand the number of farmers as well as area under natural farming in the state.
The Governor saw the exhibition of natural produce by the farmers Rishu Kumari (Jamanabad), Suresh Kumar (Dharamshala) and stalls by the Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA).
He later visited the fields of farmers Anita Devi and Sulochana Devi near Kangra. He appreciated the efforts by farmers to switch to this low-cost non-chemical and climate resilient farming and said Himachal is showing the way to the entire country to adopt this environment friendly farming.
Executive Director, PK3Y, Rajeshwar Singh Chandel, gave a presentation on the progress and the model adopted to promote natural farming in the state. He said around 12,000 hectares of land would be brought under natural farming by March this year.
He said a target has been set to bring nearly 20,000 hectares of land under this practice by next year. He also said that 3,590 panchayats have been covered under the natural farming Yojana.
Chandel said the PK3Y is directly connecting the youth with natural farming practice. He said for the first time 62 educated youths have been attached with natural farmers for six months for training.
–IANS
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