DW BUREAU / Shimla

Himachal Pradesh was pioneering in natural farming as the state was the first in India to offer a minimum support price for products grown through natural farming practices, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Friday.

While interacting with a delegation of four scientists from the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment (INRAE), Sukhu said, "Himachal Pradesh was pioneering in natural farming as the state was the first in India to offer a minimum support price for products grown through natural farming practices with wheat being procured at Rs 40 per kg and maize at Rs 30 per kg". Additionally, cow milk was being purchased at Rs 45 per litre and buffalo milk at Rs 55 per litre, he said in a statement issued here.

The team, led by Prof Allison Marie Loconto, Deputy Director of Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire Sciences Innovations Societes (LISIS), are on a visit to Himachal Pradesh to learn about the advancements in natural farming.

Other members of the delegation were researchers Prof Mireille Matt, Dr Evelyne Lhoste, and Dr Renee Van Dis.

Sukhu said Himachal Pradesh was set to become a leading state in natural farming within the next five to six years and emphasised the importance of product certification in natural farming.

He said that the Certified Evaluation Tool for Agriculture Resource Analysis-Natural Farming (CETARA) certification system has been introduced, which was being implemented in the state to ensure fair prices for the farmers.

The chief minister said that the Him Unnati scheme was being implemented in the state with a cluster-based approach -- which aims to produce and certify chemical-free produce -- with plans to establish 2,600 agricultural groups, involving approximately 50,000 farmers. The visiting INRAE scientists are on a three-week mission to YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni and various other locations in the state.

Their visit is part of the European Commission-funded ACROPICS project (Agroecological Crop Protection towards International Co-Innovation Dynamics and Evidence of Sustainability), which aims to advance co-innovation in agroecological crop protection. The delegation lauded the state government's efforts in promoting natural farming and praised the CETARA certification system. They said that INRAE would explore the possibility of adopting this certification system in other countries.
(editor@dailyworld.in)