Apple growers from Shimla have a reason to rejoice. Apples produced in many orchards in Shimla district with natural farming technique fetched an unexpected price of over Rs 100 per kg this year.
The moment a buyer in the local market saw the label of ‘Natural Apples’ on boxes, he would purchase all at this price. Farmers have saved Rs. 50,000-60,000 on the cost of cultivation also with non-chemical Subhash Palekar Natural Farming (SPNF), which is a big benefit.
The SPNF method is based on inputs made from desi cow’s dung and urine and some locally available resources. The farm inputs for SPNF can be prepared at home.
“The shift to natural farming has helped farmers earn good profits in the last three years from Samoli Panchayat in Rohru block of Shimla district.
The non-chemical low-cost climate resilient SPNF technique is being promoted for agriculture and horticulture crops in Himachal Pradesh as a part of PK3Y, launched by the state government in 2018.
According to the data shared by the State Project Implementing Unit (SPIU), PK3Y in Shimla, as many as 1,33,056 farmers are practicing natural farming in Himachal Pradesh (partially or fully) so far, involving an area of 7609 hectare. This includes 12,000 apple orchardists. While the farmers are happy with the results of natural farming in terms of zero dependence on external market, production, farm health and reduced expenditure, they have also started making efforts to build their own linkages for marketing of natural produce with better returns. Some of them are getting good rates for the chemical-free natural produce in local mandis, others are sending them across the country and many have started getting buyers at doorstep.
Executive Director, PK3Y, Dr Rajeshwar Singh Chandel said, “The State Project Implementing Unit (SPIU) is looking for different farmers for local based marketing models, which they have developed on their own. This will help us to converge these successful farmer-market linkages with our programme, wherein we are looking at connecting all the farmers with the market.
“He said the farmers have not only shown their mettle on farm with SPNF, but have successfully made market linkages also. Meanwhile, studies based on samples in state have shown that the SPNF technology has reduced the cost of cultivation in apple crop by 56.5 per cent, while the net returns in apple crop have increased by 27.4 per cent.
The incidence of Scab and Marssonina Blotch in apples is also lesser in natural farming as compared to conventional practices. More so, the farmers are able to take multiple crops on the same farm by adopting SPNF.