Bio Village- Natural Farming – Government of Andhra Pradesh

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Case Study

Bio Village- Natural Farming

District Administration Vizianagaram, Government of Andhra Pradesh

Problems:

Farmers began to face social and economic challenges as soil degradation worsened, agricultural output became contaminated with chemicals employed during agronomic techniques, and cultivation prices surged.

Solutions:

Utilization of accessible local resources (Cow dung & urine plant leaves extracts etc) is part of the solution. The promotion of chemical-free inputs such as Jeevamrutham and Botanical Extracts for plant nutrient management and pest control is beneficial. Navadhanaya crops (mixed crops) are grown before main crops to improve soil organic carbon. 

Outcomes:

Quality food is produced, cultivation costs are reduced, and soil health is improved as a result of the scheme. It also resulted in environmental health and the empowerment of rural livelihoods. 

Challenges:

In the early days of the inception of the program, farmers had little faith in natural farming.  They were also worried about low production in Natural Farming and were not aware of its benefits and method of farming.  Moreover, former methods and preparation of inputs for various crops by NF methods are unknown. Plant extracts commonly known as Nemastram, Brahmastram, and Agyanastram are required in order to manage crop health.

Innovations:

The community cadre who was deployed have conducted a campaign for mass preparation of APCNF inputs by motivating all the farmer groups, SHGs based on the crop demand in the villages, which enabled the timely supply of inputs needed for practicing Natural farming. In addition, Jeevamrutham which acts as a Bio-stimulant for increasing the microbial load in the soils for improving the supply of nutrients to the crops is made available to all the NF practitioners with low-cost cover technology at the field itself to feed the crops with Jevamrutham on regular basis. 

Short videos on successful NF practitioners of various crops were captured and disseminated in the local channels and press coverage of the innovative aspects involved in NF were published in various newspapers to reach the public. WhatsApp groups with different stake holders were also created for sharing and exchange of knowledge on NF.

Opportunities:

The programme is being implemented from the year 2016 in the district. Initially years it was started with the 10 clusters in 9 mandals and later expanded in all the mandals across the district The year wise farmers practiced and area covered under Natural Farming.

For more information, please contact:
Ms A Surya Kumari, District Collector and Magistrate at jchvzm@gmail.com

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