Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narender Singh Tomar on Thursday stressed on the need to work towards the promotion and development of alternative agriculture practices to reduce the dependence on chemical inputs in agriculture. Tomar expressed these views while visiting Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh to attend an event. Tomar also inquired about the progress of the National Committee formed for designing the course curricula on Natural Farming for students of agriculture universities from UHF vice chancellor Rajeshwar Singh Chandel. Chandel, who is a member of this national committee, briefed the Agriculture Minister about the work undertaken by the committee. Tomar suggested that the curriculum must be designed in such a manner that it focuses on imparting practical knowledge to ensure its effectiveness so that the students can design and set up a natural farm after completing their education. He also inquired about the Prakritik Krishi Khushal Kisan Yojana of Himachal Pradesh and discussed in detail about the farmers and their results. The natural farming practice has been proving to be a boon to farmers not only in terms of sustaining their livelihood but is also cutting farmers’ dependence on market driven chemical inputs, saving water and improving soil health. Professor Chandel also briefed him about the various activities being done by the state government and the university promoting the concept of natural farming and scientific data generation on Natural farming practices through experiments. He requested and invited Shri Tomar to visit Himachal Pradesh to interact with the farmers practicing natural farming in the state and also visit their fields.

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