India says gradual shift to natural farming does not reduce yields
India’s agriculture minister told Parliament that correctly implemented natural farming does not cut yields and can even improve output in some cases, while the government continues a phased rollout rather than a full immediate conversion.
India’s Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told the Lok Sabha that a shift to natural, chemical-free farming does not lead to lower yields when applied correctly. He said scientific evidence presented to the government indicates that output can even rise in some cases. The statement came during discussion of grant demands for the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
According to the minister, around 18 lakh farmers have registered for natural farming across more than 8 lakh hectares. He stressed that the government is not asking for a full and immediate conversion of all farmland. Instead, farmers are being advised to begin with roughly 20% of their land so they can manage transition risks while keeping the rest of production in existing systems.
Chouhan said the initial programme target was to prepare 18 lakh farmers and cover about 7.5 lakh hectares, while the broader mission is to sensitise 1 crore farmers to natural farming practices. In Parliament, he used a practical example: a farmer with five acres is advised to place one acre under natural farming first, not the entire holding. The government presented this as a gradual pathway to wider adoption.
MPs raised a wider policy agenda during the debate, including calls to increase PM-Kisan support from the current ₹6,000 per year, enact a legal MSP guarantee, and use the Swaminathan Commission C2+50% approach for MSP fixation. Other demands included farm-loan waivers, a separate pulses board, direct transfer of fertilizer subsidies, assured fertilizer availability ahead of the kharif season, and support for Basmati exporters affected by the Iran conflict. Some MPs also asked the government to table details of the US trade agreement referenced in a recent joint statement.
In his response, Chouhan argued that in 2018 the government decided to fix MSP at a minimum 50% margin over production costs under the A2+FL formula. He also said limited cash support alone cannot resolve structural farm-sector pressures. In his framing, the core issue is input quality: seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides used by growers.
He added that the government plans to introduce a new Pesticide Act and a new Seed Act to tighten quality and safety standards for farm inputs. Chouhan also referred to Bharat Vistaar, an AI-enabled advisory platform highlighted in the recent Budget, through which farmers can seek technical guidance by phone helpline or by uploading field photos directly from their farms.