Union Agriculture Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan today called upon the farmers of the country to practice natural farming in some part of their land. He said that natural farming is a campaign to save Mother Earth. Shri Chouhan said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is concerned that the earth is getting spoiled due to the use of chemical fertilizers and hence the government has created Natural Farming Mission so that the earth is saved for the next generation.

Shri Chouhan participated in Kisan Chaupal at Rajpur Lumbha in Bardoli, Gujarat today on the last day of 'Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan' and discussed with the farmers the practical problems of natural and scientific farming. He said that the farmers of Gujarat have inspired the farmers of the entire country by doing natural farming successfully. On this occasion, he said that if natural farming is done in the right manner, then the cost reduces, production increases and hence, if not in the entire area, then definitely do it in some acres. Shri Chauhan assured the farmers that if they face any kind of difficulty, then agricultural scientists from all over the country will make joint efforts to solve it. Agriculture Minister Shri Chauhan said that in 1928, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel started Satyagraha from this very land of Bardoli and it is a matter of good fortune for him that today he is among the farmers of this historical land.

Shri Shivraj Singh Chauhan learned the experience of the innovating farmers and praised them and said that such progressive farmers are the pioneers of new farming in the country. On this occasion, some farmers gave their suggestions regarding the use of pesticides and natural farming and made the Agriculture Minister aware of the practical problems.

Vikas from Mandvi district informed Agriculture Minister Shri Chouhan about the model of natural farming being done in his seven bigha and shared his experience of how he has got twenty times more crop than normal farming by using natural farming and is earning a profit of forty to sixty thousand rupees every month. Another farmer Kalpesh Patel told that he has been doing natural farming for the last five years and is earning up to fifteen thousand rupees every month from banana cultivation.

Agriculture Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that under this campaign, teams of scientists are visiting villages to listen to the needs and problems of the farmers of the country. The 15-day 'Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan' started from Odisha on May 29. Under this nationwide campaign, Union Agriculture Minister Shri Chouhan interacted with farmers from Odisha, Jammu, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana and Delhi.

AP/IJ/GP/JD

(Release ID: 2135965)