Himachal Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Friday said that all farms under the Agriculture department in the state would be fully developed for natural farming by next year, which would focus solely on producing seeds for natural farming. He instructed for the establishment of high-tech storage centres for wheat and maize produced through natural farming, adding that  one lakh families would be linked with natural farming in the coming year.

Chairing a review meeting of the Agriculture department, he said that the state government was committed to promote natural farming and all possible efforts were being made in this direction and directed the department to map farmers cultivating wheat and maize through natural farming methods across the state.

Sukhu said that data collection on natural farming practitioners would also be conducted at the block-level which would be integrated with the Him Parivar database, adding that Himachal Pradesh was on its way to becoming a leading state in natural farming and the state government was leaving no stone unturned to achieve this goal with a view to benefit maximum farming community.

He said that for disease management in the crops grown naturally, it was important to adopt natural treatment methods. stressing on developing a certification process for natural farming seeds and directed the department to establish a high-end laboratory for testing soil and seeds to support natural farming initiatives.

Sukhu  said that to strengthen the rural economy, the state government was planning to open processing plants for turmeric and ginger. Apart from this, the government was also contemplating to start dairy-based degree courses at Chaudhary Sarvan Kumar Agricultural University, Palampur to encourage youth in this sector. For better marketing of products grown through natural farming, he instructed the department to coordinate with e-commerce platforms.

The Chief Minister was apprised that 3,989 quintals of maize grown through natural farming was purchased during 2024-25 Kharif season and the target for the upcoming Rabi season has been set at 8050 quintals.