I follow the cow based natural farming method, no purchased inputs. Beyond the practice itself, what actual government support or scheme money is there for this kind of natural farming?
Natural farming on the cow based, low external input model is now supported mainly through the National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF), and several states run their own natural farming programmes on top of it. Himachal Pradesh in particular has had an active state natural farming programme. The support is not a per acre cash handout, it focuses on training and handholding by trained resource persons, forming farmer clusters, demonstration plots, and setting up bio input resource centres so inputs are available locally. The philosophy of the method is low cost using farm and cow resources, so the scheme support is mostly about capacity building and getting you started rather than paying for inputs you are meant to make yourself. To access it, ask your block agriculture office about both the central NMNF and the Himachal state natural farming scheme, and whether your village can be taken up as a cluster or demonstration. Confirm current assistance heads with your agriculture department, as the scheme structure has been revised. Be realistic on yields too, the early years can dip before soil health builds up.
Himachal's own natural farming scheme had good trainers near us. The handholding helped more than any subsidy. Learning to time the inputs to crop stage is what makes this method actually work.
Keep a desi cow if you can, the whole method depends on it for jeevamrit and beejamrit. Without the cow you end up buying inputs and the budget is no longer zero.
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