Current Affair 1:

News:

The Union Cabinet approved the launch of the National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF) as a standalone Centrally Sponsored Scheme under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare.

Is the NMNF a new initiative?

No. The proposed NMNF is an improvement of the Bhartiya Prakritik Krishi Paddhti (BPKP) launched by the NDA government in its second term (2019-24). The initiative was launched under an umbrella scheme of Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojna (PKVY).

The main difference between the old and new National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF) is that the new NMNF is an upscaling of the Bhartiya Prakritik Krishi Paddhati (BPKP), which was previously a sub-scheme of the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojna (PKVY):

Old NMNF: The BPKP was a sub-scheme of the PKVY that began in 2019-20.

New NMNF: The NMNF is a separate and independent scheme that began in 2023-24.

About the new NMNF:

The scheme has a total outlay of Rs.2481 crore (Government of India share – Rs.1584 crore; State share – Rs.897 crore) till the 15th Finance Commission (2025-26).

The Government of India has launched the National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF) to promote natural farming in mission mode across the country as a standalone Centrally Sponsored Scheme under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare.

 

1. In the next two years, NMNF will be implemented in 15,000 clusters in Gram Panchayats & reach 1 crore farmers
2. Preference will be given to areas with a high prevalence of practicing NF farmers, SRLM / PACS / FPOs, etc.
3. Further, 10,000 need-based Bio-input Resource Centres (BRCs) will be set up to provide farmers with easy access to ready-to-use NF inputs.
4. Under NMNF, around 2000 NF Model Demonstration Farms shall be established at Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), Agricultural Universities (AUs) and
5. Farmers will be provided with an easy simple certification system and dedicated common branding to give access to market their natural farming produce.
6. Real-time geo-tagged & referenced monitoring of NMNF implementation shall be done through an online portal.

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