Governor Acharya Devvrat has appealed the fruit growers to adopt zero budget natural farming to bring revolutionary change in apple production and this way Himachal Pradesh would set an example to the country.He was addressing two-day Kissan Sammelan and training camp on zero budget natural farming organized at Baghi village (Chirgaon) in Rohru sub-division of district Shimla today.Acharya Devvrat said that the people of the state have more sense of spirituality, love, tolerance, compassion and honesty that was not seen anywhere else and if the horticulturists and farmers take initiative to adopt natural farming, it would surely increase the significance of "Dev Bhoomi". The natural farming would help in bringing more prosperity in the area and simultaneously the fertility of land would also increase. It would also help in environment conservation, reducing the production cost and farmers income would be doubled and there would be less consumption of water as well.While appreciating the efforts of the state government, he said that the Chief Minister has carried forward this campaign in the state and a provision of Rs. 25 crore has been made for the first time for zero budget natural farming.He expressed hope that if farmer's of the state adopts this model, the target of making Himachal Pradesh a zero budget natural farming state could be achieved by 2022.The Governor said that on the suggestion of Dr. Subhash Palekar, the father of zero cost of natural agriculture, he himself adopted natural farming on 200 acres farm at Gurukul, Kurukshetra.
The results of this method are encouraging and there has been a surprising change in the fields. He said as per data of Haryana Agricultural University, the Kurukshetra district has minimum 30 percent biological carbon. Not even a single sample of the district was found where the quantity of organic carbon was more than 0.75 percent.Acharya Devvrat said that chemical farming and organic farming were not in the interest of the farmers as chemical farming led to infertility of soil whereas organic farming was very costly and prolonged process that the produce was not available for the first three years and the cost increases, which a small farmer cannot afford.He thanked Dr. Subhash Palekar for associating himself with this campaign in Himachal and creating awareness amongst the farmers.He also interacted with the farmers and horticulturists and responded to their queries regarding natural farming.Dr. Palekar detailed about the different aspects of zero budget natural farming.Project Director, zero budget natural farming Rakesh kunwar said that camps have been organised at Palampur, Mandi and Solan on natural farming to sensitize the farmers. He said the state government was formulating a working plan in this direction under which this system of agriculture would be taken to Panchayat level.MLA Mohal Lal Brakta, Additional Chief Secretary Dr. Shrikant Baldi, senior officers of Agriculture and Horticulture departments and progressive farmers of the area were also present on the occasion.