Prime Minister Narendra Modi will formally launch the National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF) on August 23, a Rs 2,481 crore centrally sponsored programme aimed at promoting sustainable agriculture across 750,000 hectares and boosting the income of 10 million farmers.According to a senior government official quoted by ET, the initiative, conceived by Niti Aayog and implemented by the ministry of agriculture & farmers’ welfare, will see the central government contribute Rs 1,584 crore, while states will provide Rs 897 crore. Farmer registrations for the programme have already begun ahead of the formal inauguration.“The ministry of agriculture & farmers’ welfare will run the scheme over the next two years and scale it up eventually depending on the success and utilisation of the budgetary allocation,” the official said.The mission’s objectives include improving crop yield, increasing farm income, reducing input costs and dependence on externally purchased inputs, ensuring better soil health and generating rural employment. Implementation will cover 15,000 clusters in gram panchayats, with priority given to regions where natural farming is already prevalent, such as Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu.The plan seeks to “scientifically revive and strengthen agriculture practices towards sustainability and climate resilience, while ensuring healthy food for farmer families and consumers,” as per the official.Under NMNF, need-based 10,000 bio-input resource centres will be established to provide farmers with accessible natural farming inputs. The government will also offer a simplified certification system and unified branding to help market natural produce.Real-time, geo-tagged monitoring of implementation will be carried out through an online portal to ensure transparency and progress tracking.
