The sins of large-scale chemical fertilizers and pesticides are piling up. Can natural farming help mitigate the economic (and other) challenges facing India’s agricultural sector?
Did you hear Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comments at the Natural Farming Conclave in December in Anand, Gujarat? It was a pleasant surprise. Especially so because Indian agriculture is usually dominated by long-standing practices and perspectives. Modi’s view that our agricultural practices need a new (or is it old?) approach and shift away from chemical farming seems like an endorsement of natural farming as an alternative food system. This probably caught the attention of many people trying to access organic food, interest in which has been growing over the last decade. Still, not since a Satyamev Jayate episode brought organic …
Karan Manral is a co-founder of organic farming ventures Green Essentials and New Farmer. After dabbling with technology media, communication and marketing, and some kitchen gardening simultaneously, he (and his partner Yogita Mehra) took the plunge into organic farming full time a decade ago and has since been trying to make growing food more accessible for novice urban farmers.
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