By James Khangenbam 25 March 2023 Imphal:
Governor Anusuiya Uikey while inaugurating an international conference on “Natural farming for Revitalizing Environment and Resilient Agriculture” at the auditorium of Central Agricultural University (CAU), Imphal few days back said that nowadays people are very cautious about their health and the food they eat daily, particularly after the Covid-19 pandemic. She said, keeping in view of the ill-effects, people are avoiding inorganic foods and all are talking about organic foods which are free from fertilizers and pesticides.
Therefore, large scale adoption of natural farming processes will be the best option to cater to the needs of people, she said. The Governor continued that modern agriculture has increased the rate of food production and made the country self-sufficient but at the same time the people are facing many problems.
By using fertilizers and pesticides, soil degradation and environmental pollution have been aggravated. Keeping in view such situations, NITI Aayog organized a National consultation in which Indian natural farming system was discussed. Indian Council of Agricultural Research constituted a committee to develop natural farming courses and materials at UG and PG level, she said. Vice Chancellor of CAU, Imphal, Dr Anupam Mishra was appointed as Member Secretary, she added.
Anusuiya said, to promote natural farming in the country schemes like National Agriculture Development Scheme and Indian Natural farming System have been introduced and a total of Rs 4980.99 lakh was released. The Government has set a target of helping one crore farmers to adopt natural farming in the next three years, she added.
The Governor expressed confidence that deliberations in the convention would make way for positive steps which will help in developing natural farming not only in India but also in many countries across the world. The Governor also opened an exhibition on natural farming produces of innovative farmers from Manipur and other North Eastern States during the conference.
Dr Anupam Mishra, Vice-Chancellor, CAU, Imphal, Dr PS Pandey, Vice-Chancellor, RLBCAU, Pusa, Bihar, Dr Indira Sarangthem, Dean, College of Agriculture, CAU, delegates from within and outside the country and students attended the conference. Delegates from Bangladesh, Nepal, Singapore, Thailand, Germany, England and US participated in eight technical sessions during the three-day conference organised by Central Agricultural University, Iroisemba, Imphal.
Dr RK Ranjan, MOS, External Affairs and Education highlighted the importance of natural farming adding that it should be a part of UG/PG programme and lauded CAU’s efforts in this regard. He stated that as per the Union Budget 2023-24, the Government has set a target to transform one crore farmers to natural farming within the next three years. The Central Government is also aiming to provide subsidy to set up 10,000 bio-input resource centres across different corners of India, he said. He added that schemes such as Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) and Bhartiya Krishi Paddhati (BPKP) Yojana were launched in the country to raise consciousness of natural farming.
On the occasion, Dr Indira Sarangthem, Dean, College of Agriculture, CAU shared that altogether 153 research papers were presented during the three-day international conference where eight technical sessions were organised. Many notable personalities participated in the conference including vice chancellors of various Agricultural Universities and past and present Director of ICAR Research Institute. ICAR/KVKs, State Development Departments, College of Agriculture Iroisemba, CAU Imphal, NGO etc set up stalls and exhibited various natural farm products during the international conference.
