Take a look at the essential concepts, terms, quotes, or phenomena every day and brush up your knowledge. Here’s your daily current affairs 2025 knowledge nugget on natural farming and the PM-KISAN Scheme of the government.
Knowledge Nugget: Natural Farming
Subject: Government policies
(Relevance: The government has promoted natural farming through various schemes, such as the National Mission on Natural Farming. More importantly, agriculture is a popular topic among UPSC aspirants, as many questions have appeared in both the Prelims and Mains. Therefore, understanding this subject is crucial for your UPSC exam.)
Why in the news?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Tamil Nadu to inaugurate the Natural Farmers Summit in Coimbatore, which saw participation of more than 50,000 farmers, experts, and stakeholders from Tamil Nadu and neighbouring states. During the event, PM Modi also released Rs 18,000 crore as the latest PM-Kisan instalment, benefiting nine crore farmers across India, including several lakh in Tamil Nadu.
Key takeaways:
1. PM Modi inaugurated the three-day South India Natural Farming Summit 2025 (November 19-21), organised by the Tamil Nadu Natural Farming Stakeholders Forum, in Coimbatore, and from the platform outlined an expansive vision for India’s shift toward natural and chemical-free agriculture. Modi said he hoped that “new ideas and solutions” would emerge from Coimbatore—a city he hailed as central to India’s agricultural transformation.
2. He urged farmers to adopt the “one acre, one season” model of natural farming and appealed to agricultural institutions to “make natural farming a fully science-backed movement.” At the same time, he drew on regional pride, citing Tamil Nadu’s tradition of Panchagavya (prepared by mixing five ingredients), Jeevamrit, mulching, and millet cultivation.
3. “Natural farming is an indigenous Indian concept, not imported from elsewhere,” he said, adding that South India had long been “a living university of agriculture,” from ancient dams to multi-storey farming in the Western Ghats.
Natural Farming
1. The Agriculture Ministry defines natural farming as a “chemical-free” farming system that only uses inputs produced using livestock and plant resources. The ministry plans to implement this first across the districts with high fertiliser consumption.
2. Last year in November, the Union Cabinet approved the launch of the National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF) with a budget outlay of Rs 2,481 crore. It is a standalone Centrally Sponsored Scheme under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare. The NMNF aims to promote natural farming in mission mode across the country.
3. NMNF is an improvement of the Bhartiya Prakritik Krishi Paddhti (BPKP) launched by the NDA government in its second term (2019-24). Under NMNF, in the next two years 1 crore farmers across the country will be initiated into natural farming supported by certification and branding. Implementation will be through scientific institutions and willing gram panchayats. 10,000 need-based bio-input resource centres will also be established under it.
4. Natural farming is a system where the laws of nature are applied to agricultural practices. It builds on natural or ecological processes that exist in or around farms. The ministry website lists certain principles to achieve Natural farming which includes adopting diversified cropping system-based agriculture, recycle naturally available nutrients in fields, and use of locally developed and refined practices based on plant, animal and microbial source as raw materials.
Community-Managed Natural Farming (APCNF)
Implemented by Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (RySS). Focuses on ecological science over input economics. Reduces synthetic inputs and delivers climate-resilient farming at lower financial costs.
Community-Managed
Dual-Scheme Model (Atma Nirbhar Package)
₹900 monthly subsidy for cow maintenance to farming families. ₹1,248 subsidy for Natural Farming kit purchase to prepare Jeevamrit. Launched September 2020.
Financial Incentives
Prakritik Kheti Khushhal Kissan (PK3) Yojana
Aims to reduce cultivation costs and enhance farmer income. Promotes chemical-free production of food grains, vegetables, and fruits. Covers 54,914 farmers on 2,451 hectares.
Cost Reduction Focus
Training + Equipment Subsidy Model
18,313 farmers trained in 2-day workshops by master-trainers. 50% subsidy up to ₹600 for drums, buckets, sprayers. Pilot project in Tonk, Sirohi, and Banswada districts.
Capacity Building
Express InfoGenIE
5. There are many working models of natural farming all over the world, the zero budget natural farming (ZBNF) is the most popular model in India. Along with Subhash Palekar’s ZBNF, there are versions of farming without chemicals: Rudolf Steiner’s Biodynamic Agriculture, Masanobu Fukuoka’s One Straw Revolution and Miguel Altieri’s Agro-ecology.
Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF)
6. Palekar’s ZBNF runs on four “wheels”: Jiwamrita (a microbial culture of dung and urine from indigenous cow species, jaggery, pulses flour, bund soil and water), Bijamrita (a seed treatment solution with almost the same ingredients), Mulching (covering the topsoil with dried leaves and straw for moisture conservation and proper aeration) and Waaphasa (providing water outside the plant’s canopy).
7. These four elements will ensure that the crop receives enough nutrients through the action of living microorganisms in the soil, in addition to the water, carbon dioxide, nitrogen and solar energy for photosynthesis that come “free” from the monsoon rains, air and sun.
8. ZBNF also advocates insect and pest management through decoction sprays of Agniastra, Bramhastra and Neemastra, which are made using desi cow urine, tobacco and leaves/pulp of neem, datura, garlic, papaya and pomegranate.
BEYOND THE NUGGET: PM Kisan Saman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme
1. During the South India Natural Farming Summit, Prime Minister also released the 21st instalment of PM-KISAN of Rs 18,000 crore to nearly 9 crore farmers. He said that over Rs 4 lakh crore has been transferred to small farmers since the scheme began. He also highlighted the benefits that accrued to farmers following reduction in GST rates on bio-fertilisers.
2. PM-KISAN is a Central sector scheme that has been operational since December 1, 2018. It aims to provide financial assistance to the farmers with 100% funding from the Government of India. A total of Rs 6,000 is given to each farmer annually, in three installments of Rupees 2,000 each.
3. The operational guidelines define a landholder farmer’s family as a family comprising “husband, wife and minor children” who owns cultivable land as per land records of the concerned State/UT. As per the PM-Kisan scheme’s operational guidelines, only one member (husband, wife and minor children) can avail of PM-Kisan.
Post Read Question
How is permaculture farming different from conventional chemical farming? (UPSC CSE 2021)
1. Permaculture farming discourages monocultural practices but in conventional chemical farming, monoculture practices are predominant.
2. Conventional chemical farming can cause an increase in soil salinity but the occurrence of such phenomenon is not observed in permaculture farming.
3. Conventional chemical farming is easily possible in semi-arid regions but permaculture farming is not so easily possible in such regions.
4. Practice of mulching is very important in permaculture farming but not necessarily so in conventional chemical farming.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
(a) 1 and 3
(b) 1, 2 and 4
(c) 4 only
(d) 2 and 3
(Sources: Bihar wind has arrived in Tamil Nadu, Modi says during Coimbatore visit, All about the central government scheme to promote natural farming , PM-KISAN scheme, naturalfarming.dac.gov.in)
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with a farmer as he visits an exhibition during the inauguration of the South India Natural Farming Summit 2025, in Coimbatore on Wednesday. (DPR PMO/ANI Photo) 
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