Financial Assistance for Natural Farming

The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, through ICAR’s All India Network Programme on Natural Farming (2020‑21), is studying natural farming across 16 states with 20 centres, 11 State Agricultural Universities, 8 ICAR institutes and one deemed university. Field trials report yield gains of 5 % over organic farming, improved soil organic carbon (0.90 % → 1.15 %) and higher microbial diversity. NITI Aayog’s assessment notes that 91.2 % of adopters see higher productivity and 90.1 % report reduced input costs. Under the scheme, an output‑based incentive of ₹4,000 per acre per year is offered for two years (up to one acre per farmer) to support natural‑farming practices and related inputs.