Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday called for the adaptation of agriculture according to new requirements, new challenges of the journey ahead, till the 100th year of India’s Independence.

Addressing farmers at the National Conclave on Natural Farming through video conferencing, the Prime Minister said that in the last 6-7 years, the Central government had taken several steps to improve the conditions of farmers in the country.

These steps, he pointed out, include providing new variety of seed to market to increase the income of the farmers, soil testing to hundreds of new seeds, from PM Kisan Samman Nidhi to fixing MSP at 1.5 times the cost of production, from irrigation to a strong network of Kisan Rail have taken the sector in that direction.

Modi greeted the farmers from all over the countries, digitally connected to the event.

The three-day National Conclave on Natural Farming was organised by the Gujarat government. The summit was organised from December 14-16. It was attended by over 5000 farmers, apart from farmers being connected Live through Central Institutes of ICAR, Krishi Vigyan Kendras and ATMA (Agricultural Technology Management Agency) network in the states.

The Prime Minister, acknowledging the important role of chemicals and fertilizers in the Green Revolution, emphasized the need for working on its alternatives simultaneously. He warned against the dangers of pesticides and imported fertilizers which lead to increased costs of inputs and also cause damage to health.

Modi stressed that this is the right time to take big steps before the problems related to agriculture become even worse. “We have to take our agriculture out of the lab of chemistry and connect it to the lab of nature. When I talk about nature’s laboratory, it is completely science-based”, he said, adding that, “Today the more modern the world the more it is moving towards ‘back to basics’.

The Prime Minister said, “It means connecting with your roots. Who understands this better than all of you farmer friends? The more we water the roots, the more the plant grows”, said the Prime Minister.

“We need not only to re-learn this ancient knowledge of agriculture but also to sharpen it for modern times. In this direction, we have to do research afresh, mold ancient knowledge into the modern scientific frame,” Modi said.

The Prime Minister called upon farmers to be vigilant about the received wisdom. Citing the prevalent notions of burning crop residue, he said that this happens despite experts having established that by setting fire to the field, the earth loses its fertile capacity. He added that an illusion has also arisen that without chemicals the crop will not be good.

“Earlier there were no chemicals, but the harvest was good. History of the development of humanity is witness to this. Along with learning new things, we need to unlearn the wrong practices that have crept into our agriculture”, Modi said. He said institutes like ICAR, agriculture universities and Krishi Vigyan Kendras can play a big role in this by taking it beyond papers to practical success.

The Prime Minister said that those who will benefit the most from natural farming, constitute about 80 per cent of the farmers of the country. “Those small farmers who have less than 2 hectares of land, most of these farmers spend a lot on chemical fertilizers. If they turn to natural farming, their condition will be better,” he underlined.

PM Modi urged every state, every state government, to come forward to make natural farming a mass movement. ”In this Amrit Mahotsav, efforts should be made to associate at least one village of every panchayat with natural farming,” he insisted.

Recalling the Climate Change Summit, he called upon the world to make ‘Lifestyle for Environment’ i.e. LIFE a global mission. “India and its farmers are going to lead in this regard in the 21st century. Let’s take a pledge to make Maa Bharati’s land free from chemical fertilizers and pesticides in the Amrit Mahotsav of Independence,” Modi exhorted the people.