PM Narendra Modi had urged the farmers to reduce their dependence on chemical fertilisers and encouraged them to use organic farming methods in his Independence Day speech on August 15. "Natural farming, chemical-free farming can give strength to the country’s goal of becoming self-reliant," PM Modi had said.
PM Modi had reminded the farmers that natural farming is a means of prosperity as well respecting and serving our mother earth while addressing the Natural Farming Conclave in July this year. “When you do natural farming, you serve Mother Earth, protect the quality of the soil, and its productivity. When you do natural farming you are serving nature and the environment. When you join natural farming, you also get the privilege of serving Gaumata”, he said.
This proves that the government has been working on a policy related to natural farming and now according to the reports it is all set to come out with the Pradhan Mantri-Promotion of Alternative Nutritious And Agriculture Management (PM-PRANAM) scheme soon. The aim of the PM-PRANAM scheme is to discourage the use of chemical fertilisers and promote sustainable agriculture practices.
According to the plan, states that used fewer chemical fertilisers in a given year than they did on average over the previous three years would receive incentives. The fertiliser subsidy savings that the states achieve by using less fertiliser would be distributed to them at a rate of 50%. It should be noted that in order to boost their yields, farmers have been heavily reliant on fertilisers like urea, diammonium phosphate (DAP), and muriate of potash (MOP).
This scheme will help the government reduce the fertiliser subsidy burden besides promoting natural farming. Previous year, the centre spent around Rs 1.62 lakh crore on fertiliser subsidy and the same is expected to increase to Rs 2.25 lakh crore in 2022-2023.
As per the reports, states can use around 70% of that incentive for farmers' welfare and related developments and the rest can be used to incentivise the panchayats, farmers and self-help groups who helped in reducing the use of fertiliser.
The programme could be a game-changer for the agricultural industry because it will encourage natural farming, which will increase yield, lower the burden of subsidies, and encourage states as well.
The need for fertiliser has grown recently, according to government statistics. Between 2017–2018 and 2021–2022, the combined demand for urea, DAP (di-ammonium phosphate), MOP (muriate of potash), and NPKS (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) increased by 21%, from 528.86 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) to 640.27 LMT. The burden of the subsidy was also increased.
After considering input from all interested parties, the government is still working out the fine details of the PM-PRANAM scheme. A launch date for the programme has not yet been determined.
