Gandhinagar, Feb 26 (IANS) The Gujarat government on Thursday transferred Rs 6.97 crore directly into the bank accounts of 35,829 farmers across 33 districts as an incentive to promote natural farming, marking a continued push to expand chemical-free agriculture in the state.

Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel released the assistance through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) at a ceremony in Gandhinagar, in the presence of Agriculture Minister Jitu Vaghani and Minister of State for Agriculture Rameshbhai Katara.

The funds were credited with a single click under the National Mission on Natural Farming.

Under the scheme, farmers adopting natural farming are provided assistance of Rs 2,000 per acre for the Kharif and Rabi seasons.

The latest disbursement covered newly joined farmers for the Kharif season.

Addressing the gathering, Patel said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had urged citizens to adopt the mantra of ‘Back to Basic’ for a healthy life and to take natural farming forward in mission mode.

He said, “Farmers adopting natural farming had undertaken work that offers the satisfaction of securing the future generations.”

He added that natural farming had become “the need of the time” and essential for health, stating that the sooner farmers turn towards such practices, the sooner the benefits would be realised.

The Chief Minister also referred to the efforts of Governor Acharya Devvrat, who has initiated a public movement to encourage cow-based natural farming and visits villages to guide farmers.

Vaghani said the Central government had launched the National Mission on Natural Farming to promote chemical-free cultivation using indigenous cow-based and locally available resources.

“In Gujarat, 1,015 clusters have been formed under the mission, each comprising three gram panchayats, to provide training, guidance and financial support to interested farmers,” Vaghani said.

He further stated that 3,875 additional non-mission clusters would be created in remaining gram panchayats, taking the total number of clusters to about 4,890.

To provide practical exposure, 7,100 model farms have been established across the state.

“The state budget has allocated Rs 392 crore this year for various activities related to natural farming,” Vaghani noted.

–IANS

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