Organic Farming Suggested For Indian Agriculture Syllabus

In her budget statement on Tuesday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman echoed the Modi government's drive for organic, zero-budget natural farming, saying that agriculture institutes throughout the country will be encouraged to incorporate these topics in their curricula. The Union government has begun to promote the notion of zero-budget natural farming as a program aimed at making farming more sustainable and enhancing farmers' income by lowering input costs, as well as other areas such as greater market access and increased product returns.

In his speech to the National Summit on Agro and Food Processing on December 16, 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized natural farming as a "promising instrument" for improving the plight of farmers. Following this, the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), the premier organization for coordinating, supervising, and administering agricultural research and education, released a circular encouraging all central and state institutions to encourage natural farming.

The curriculum of Maharashtra's agriculture institutions is altered every ten years, according to Dr. Harihar Kausadikar, director (education), Maharashtra Council of Agriculture Education and Research (MCAER). The curriculum was last revised in 2009-10, and the process of rewriting it is now continuing. The revised curriculum might go into force in the following academic year, which begins in July–August 2022.

The syllabus for postgraduate programs in agricultural institutions has been informed to cover areas of organic farming, zero-budget farming, and natural farming, according to ICAR guidelines published in December 2021. Universities are also encouraged to provide self-contained courses on the topic (for instance, MSc organic farming). The new syllabus is believed to be started from the upcoming academic year.

The ICAR has formed 19 BSMA (broad subject matter area) committees of notable agricultural scientists, academicians, and subject matter specialists to review the syllabus.

Zero-budget farming emphasizes a transition away from monocultures and toward a diversified multi-cropping system. Organic fertilizers like Beejamrit, Jivamrit, and Ghanjivamrit are made from cows' excreta. Other traditional methods, such as mulching the soil with biomass or keeping the soil covered with green cover all year, even when water is scarce, experts believe, assure continued production even in the first year of implementation.