Promoting agriculture in Himachal by going back to roots

BY VISHAL GULATI

Shimla, Dec 27 (SocialNews.XYZ) Himachal Pradesh, flush with vegetables like high-value exotic broccoli and lettuce, has scaled up zero-budget natural farming, involving chemical-free sustainable agriculture, by going back to the roots, nature's way.

The state Agriculture Department says the total cost for conventional farming is nearly Rs 2.30 lakh per hectare, while the natural farming costs around Rs 1 lakh per hectare.

The mountain state has been advocating Subash Palekar's zero budget natural farming, a technique promoted by Padma Shri recipient Subhash Palekar in the mid-1990s with no use of fertilisers and pesticides, resulting in high profits.

The zero budget natural farming is a method of chemical-free agriculture drawing from traditional Indian practices like the use of a mixture of cow dung and urine on farmland.

"We have been aggressively driving a shift towards the zero-budget natural farming with an aim to cover all 9.61 lakh farmers of the state by 2022," state Agriculture Minister Virender Kanwar told IANS.

He said under the Subash Palekar natural farming technique the production of foodgrains, vegetables and fruits would be without the use of synthetic chemicals, pesticides and fertilisers.

This would also help double the income of the farmers by minimising the cost of cultivation and enhancing the crop productivity.

As per the Agriculture Department, 95,051 farmers have been trained under in the natural farming technique till November 30. Out of them, 90,349 farmers have been practicing this technique by covering 5,095 hectares across 2,957 panchayats in 12 districts of the State. In 2018-19, just 2,669 farmers had adopted this technique, while in 2019-20 there were 54,914 farmers practicing it.

Currently, 8,000 growers have now started growing apples and pears on their plots ranging from as small as two bighas to up to 50 bighas, said Kanwar.

The state's largest district, Kangra, has 21,136 farmers who have been doing natural farming on 634 hectares in 738 panchayats, followed by Mandi where 20,534 farmers in 440 panchayats have adopted it on 882 hectares. In remote Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur districts, 437 farmers and 1,020 farmers are practicing natural farming, respectively.

Vegetable production in Himachal Pradesh is generating revenue of Rs 3,500 to 4,000 crore annually and has emerged as an alternate economic activity in the horticulture sector.

As per government estimates, off-season vegetables give a net return from Rs 60,000 to Rs 2 lakh per hectare whereas the traditional crops fetch from Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 per hectare. During 2018-19, 17.22 lakh tonnes of vegetables were produced as against 16.92 lakh tonnes in 2017-18, recording a growth of 1.8 per cent.

Farmer Rajesh Sagar in Kandaghat village of Solan district, who has been practicing natural farming on his plot of five acres where he grows vegetables and pulses, said it was difficult to convince the growers to go for sustainable farming.

"The tomato and capsicum crops grown through natural way are getting an optimum produce. Also they are commanding 20-25 per cent higher prices than the normal produce, provided they are marketed as a pest-free crop," he added.

Another farmer Dhyan Singh Verma said the government should also take initiatives to provide a platform to the growers at their doorsteps to market the fruits, vegetables and pluses produced in a natural way.

"To protect the crops, there are traditional methods of use of bio-pesticides and bio-insecticides like burning 'guggal' (a tree resin)," he added.

However, farm experts say zero-budget natural farming is easier said than practised.

"It is practically not feasible on a commercial scale owing to its large dependence on cow dung and urine, which are not currently available in abundance with the change in farm practices across the country," said a senior agricultural official, requesting anonymity.

"Such farming can be done at the micro level. But again we have large subsistence farming communities who cannot experiment with their livelihood," he added.

According to the National Sample Survey Office, almost 70 per cent of agricultural households spend more than they earn. Interestingly, farmers in the state's landlocked valleys like Pangi in Chamba district and Dodra Kwar in Shimla district have never used pesticides and fertilisers for growing crops. Barring Chamba and some interior areas in the state, the farmers have preferred domesticated hybrid varieties of cows rather than the native ones due to high milk yields.

The BJP-led Jai Ram Thakur government has initiated 'Prakritik Kheti Khushhaal Kisaan Yojana' to promote zero-budget natural farming.

As per the programme, the natural farming is totally based on domestic cow breeds. Availability of high yield domestic cow breed germplasm would be ensured by the state Animal Husbandry Department. Farmers will be provided incentives for establishing infrastructure for the zero-budget natural farming inputs.

To facilitate efficient collection of cow dung and urine, essential inputs of natural farming, farmers would be provided 80 per cent assistance for lining of cattle sheds and construction of urine collection system.

In a first, Dr Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry has successfully undertaken the harvesting of peas planted under the zero budget natural farming. The first picking of the peas was undertaken in March 2018 with encouraging results.

Based on the first harvest, the production was calculated to be around five quintals an acre.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)

Source: IANS