Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said here on Sunday natural farming was the only solution to end the woes of the farmers and make agriculture profitable.
Inaugurating a week-long training programme at the open grounds in front of the Acharya Nagarjuna University, Mr. Naidu said the AP government had declared 2018 as the year of natural farming.
He said more than 8,000 farmers across the State were attending the programme. The State government fixed a target of cultivation in 1.50 lakh acres spread across 972 villages.
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“Food cultivated through natural farming is healthy and in a way ensures a healthy life. We are spending close to ₹5,000 crore every year on health and we aim to reduce this by at least 20%,’’ said Mr. Naidu.
He said the Azim Premji Foundation had earmarked ₹100 crore for the practice.
Minister for Agriculture Somireddy Chandramohana Reddy said Andhra Pradesh aimed at cultivating 12.50 lakh acres in the next five years under it.
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Natural Farming proponent Subhash Palekar said all other practices like organic, chemical and vermi compost farming were “foreign practices” and not suitable for Indian conditions.
“The farming practices have proved to have destroyed fertility, caused global warming and are responsible for large-scale migration of farmers from rural hinterlands to urban areas,” he said.
Stating that food scarcity, suicides of farmers and health and nutrition deficiencies continue to plague the country, Mr. Palekar said farmers should opt for zero-budget based natural farming to get rid of the abnormal rise in input costs.
Assembly Speaker Kodela Siva Prasada Rao said Mr. Palekar’s idea would be implemented on a large scale in the Amaravati region.
Ministers for Civil Supplies and Social Welfare Prathipati Pulla Rao and Nakka Ananda Babu, and Collector Kona Sasidhar also spoke on the need for it to tide over water scarcity conditions.