Chemical fertiliser use root cause of many diseases, natural farming to boost farmers' income: Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday termed chemical fertilisers as the root cause of many diseases and made a strong pitch for natural farming, saying it not only increases farmers' income by at least one-and-half times but also saves water and promotes public health.

Addressing a Farmers' Conference held here, Shah said the government was developing a ''complete system'' - from soil and laboratory testing, certification to packaging - to ensure agricultural produce of the country's farmers reaches global level in a better way as there is a huge market for natural farming in the world.

Shah said, ''In the coming time, more than 400 laboratories across the country will provide certificates to farmers, due to which the income of farmers will increase by almost one-and-half times.'' ''Chemical fertilisers are the root cause of many diseases today. Natural farming is an approach that doesn't reduce farmers' income, but instead makes their produce pure,'' he asserted.

Natural farming is a traditional practice that people have forgotten over the time, he said while pointing out that dung and urine of a single indigenous cow can help cultivate 21 acres of land.

''It (natural farming) increases income, saves water, and relieves people from many diseases,'' he added. Shah, who is also Minister of Cooperation, said approximately 40 lakh farmers in the country have adopted natural farming and he has personally practised it on his farms. This has increased production, not decreased it, he said.

''There is a huge market for natural farming in the world. To ensure the produce of the country's farmers reaches the global market in a better way, a complete system is being developed - from soil testing to certification, laboratory testing of the produce and packaging,'' Shah added.

According to him, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has established two big cooperative institutions through the Ministry of Cooperation, which are doing the work of certification of natural farming produce, its testing in world-class and modern labs, packaging, marketing and export.

Shah said, ''In the coming time, more than 400 laboratories across the country will provide certificates to the farmers, due to which their income will increase by almost one-and-a-half times. It can guide many farmers and cowherds towards progress.'' ''There is also a cowshed here, and a complete range of natural farming methods based on cow dung has been developed. This approach, which generates incomes of up to Rs 1.25 lakh per acre of land, will certainly prove to be a great blessing for small farmers,'' he said.

Earlier, Shah visited the Basavan Mama Cow Project and described it as a ''very good approach''.

Shah said that Basavan Mama Govansh Van Vihar is a successful experiment in empowering small and marginal farmers through natural farming. The model farm in Rewa region will not only guide millions of farmers but will also play a pioneering role in promoting natural farming, he said.

Basavan Mama is worshipped as a folk deity in the Vindhya region. It is believed that he sacrificed his life to protect the environment in this region in the 8th century.

Shah said everyone should take a pledge to serve nature, and plant at least five peepal trees, which provide the most oxygen.

Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, Deputy Chief Minister Rajendra Shukla, minister Prahlad Patel and several other leaders were present at the event.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)