Two years down the road, what has been the outcome?

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, the implementation ecosystem includes 527 Krishi Vigyan Kendras, 76 agricultural universities and 194 Local Natural Farming Institutes. In addition, 18 Centres of Natural Farming (CoNFs) provide training to scientists, state-, district- and block-level officials and Farmer Master Trainers. 

Further, farmers adopting natural farming are eligible for an Output Based Incentive of ₹4,000 per acre per year for two years, limited to a maximum of one acre. The Centre has also established a separate policy framework through PM-PRANAM to reduce chemical fertiliser consumption and promote alternative fertilisers, organic farming and resource-conservation technologies. From 2025-26, the government has also introduced the Natural Farming Certification System (NFCS) under the PGS-INDIA Natural framework, with financial assistance of ₹2,100 per hectare for two years.

Natural farming is no longer just a niche buzzword. Neither is it another “traditional method of farming”.

It has become a national policy experiment, evolving from the fragments of State-level practices into a national framework. The Union Government has incorporated natural farming into a national policy framework, with the objective not only of reducing chemical fertilisers and pesticides but also of developing an integrated soil-water-livestock-crop-market-based farming system.

Gaining Momentum

K.B. Kathiria, Vice-Chancellor of Anand Agricultural University (AAU), said that the National Natural Farming Mission is gaining momentum through “a gradual but firm process”. Research conducted by Gujarat’s four agricultural universities and the Natural Farming Development Board has found 20–30% savings in irrigation water across various crops. Soil organic carbon levels have increased, while populations of microbial groups such as bacteria, fungi, and nitrogen-fixing organisms are 10-100 times higher than under conventional farming.

According to a NITI Aayog assessment, 91.2% of farmers practising natural farming reported an increase in crop productivity, while 90.1% reported a reduction in input and production costs. Another 68.5% reported improvements in soil health. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has also been conducting studies since 2020-21 under the All India Network Programme on Natural Farming.

The initial target was to promote natural farming across 7.5 lakh hectares through 15,000 clusters and reach one crore farmers. However, according to information provided by Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Ramnath Thakur about a month ago, the mission had already covered 18,893 clusters, 10.32 lakh hectares and 24.27 lakh farmers in FY 2025-26.

Institutional Gaps

The National Mission on Natural Farming is essential to promote climate-resilient agriculture and provides direct support to farmers.

However, farmer leaders lament the lack of sufficient institutional support. Pal Ambaliya, a farmer leader from Gujarat, pointed out that farmers are still hesitant to fully adopt the model. Citing the example of how the model was implemented in Andhra Pradesh, Ambaliya highlighted the need to create a stronger ecosystem and a broader grassroots institutional system that supports the farmers.

The Andhra Pradesh Model

The Andhra Pradesh Community-Managed Natural Farming (APCNF) programme has been implemented since 2016 through the state institution, Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (RySS). This has given Andhra Pradesh a longer institutional runway compared with many other states. 

Women’s groups have played a significant role in the programme.

Farmers are not brought into the system merely through subsidies; continuous training enables one farmer’s experience and practices to spread to other farmers. The state’s model has been strengthened by its long-term approach, a dedicated institutional structure, grassroots organisations, continuous farmer training and scientific research.

In Gujarat, Dang district became the country’s first district to achieve 100% natural farming status in 2025, with more than 10,000 farmers reportedly practising farming completely without chemical fertilizers and pesticides. 

Explaining the distinction between natural and organic farming, Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat said that both systems seek to avoid chemical fertilisers and pesticides, but their approaches differ. According to him, conventional farming can cost around ₹25,000 per bigha, while the cost under natural farming can be negligible. Devvrat has also advocated higher subsidies for farmers adopting natural farming compared with those using chemical fertilizers.