7 lakh farmers in state adopted natural farming, says Governor

He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called upon at least 75 farmers in every gram panchayat of the country to adopt natural farming in the farmers’ convention organised on the occasion of 75 years of Independence. As a result, today, in 5,233 Gram Panchayats of Gujarat 75 or more farmers practise natural farming. Additionally, there are 3,679 panchayats where nearly 75 farmers are practising natural farming.

Citing a study conducted during the Green Revolution in the 1960s, the Governor stated that India’s soil used to contain 2 to 2.5 per cent organic carbon then. But today, this proportion has reduced to less than 0.5 per cent due to the increase in use of chemical fertilisers, including urea. “…due to which the soil fertility has decreased. The soil has become infertile. Against 10-15 kg urea used per acre at that time, it has now gone up by 100 times to 10 bags. Not only this, the land, air and water have become polluted and the incidence of various diseases has also increased,” he added.

Emphasising on natural agriculture as the solution for various problems, the Governor said that chemical agriculture was suggested as an alternative to organic agriculture, but it does not reduce the effort and cost. On the contrary, the yield suddenly decreases. Not only that, in the end it also damages the environment.

Referring to a UNESCO report, the governor said that if the use of chemical fertilisers is not reduced today, the land will become completely infertile in the next 40-50 years due to the problem of global warming. Moreover, urea and other chemical fertilisers imported from abroad also cost the country’s foreign exchange. Through natural agriculture, the nutrients are retained in the soil and the water table will also rise due to rainwater harvesting.