Centre plans 3.25 mn ha shift to chemical-free farming by FY31
The department of expenditure, in coordination with the agriculture ministry, is drafting a proposal to expand chemical-free farming to 3.25 million hectares...
What Happened
- The department of expenditure, in coordination with the agriculture ministry, is drafting a proposal to expand chemical-free farming to 3.25 million hectares by FY2031.
- The plan envisages creating 65,000 clusters of 50 hectares each, structured under the National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF).
- This represents a significant scale-up from the currently approved NMNF target of 15,000 clusters covering 7.5 lakh hectares, launched with a ₹2,481 crore outlay under a standalone Centrally Sponsored Scheme.
- The proposed FY2031 expansion would require new inter-ministerial budgetary commitment, bringing in the department of expenditure as a co-drafter alongside the agriculture ministry.
Static Topic Bridges
National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF)
The Union Cabinet approved the National Mission on Natural Farming in November 2024 as a standalone Centrally Sponsored Scheme, restructuring the earlier Bharatiya Prakritik Krishi Paddhati programme. The mission promotes farming without synthetic chemicals by leveraging bio-inputs, on-farm resource recycling, and traditional knowledge systems such as Beejamrit, Jeevamrit, and Mulching.
- Budget outlay: ₹2,481 crore (Centre ₹1,584 crore + States ₹897 crore)
- Near-term target: 15,000 clusters in willing Gram Panchayats, covering 7.5 lakh ha, reaching 1 crore farmers
- More than 1,100 model farms and 806 training institutes engaged as of mid-2025
- Uses the Participatory Guarantee System (PGS-India) for certification, avoiding costly third-party certification
Connection to this news: The proposed FY2031 expansion to 65,000 clusters signals a shift from a pilot-scale scheme to a systemic national policy, requiring the department of expenditure to co-draft the proposal — indicating multi-ministry fiscal commitment.
Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) and Policy Lineage
PKVY, launched in 2015, was India's first cluster-based Centrally Sponsored Scheme for organic and natural farming. It provided end-to-end support — from production to certification and marketing — and laid the institutional template (cluster model, PGS certification, DBT-linked farmer support) that NMNF now builds upon.
- Launched under National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA)
- Financial assistance: ₹31,500/ha for three years, with ₹15,000/ha directly through DBT
- By 2025, it had covered ~15 lakh ha through 52,289 clusters involving 25.3 lakh farmers
- NMNF absorbed and scaled the PKVY cluster architecture
Connection to this news: The FY2031 target of 65,000 clusters is a direct institutional descendant of the PKVY model, signalling continuity rather than redesign, and is therefore important to understand as a policy evolution narrative for Mains GS3.
Green Revolution Legacy and Soil Health Crisis
India's Green Revolution of the 1960s–70s dramatically boosted grain production but at significant ecological cost. Decades of intensive chemical fertilizer use have left Indian soils severely degraded. A nationwide soil sampling exercise covering 50 million samples (2015–2019) found that over two-thirds were deficient in key nutrients and 85% contained insufficient organic carbon.
- Ideal NPK ratio for Indian soils is 4:2:1; Punjab's ratio has skewed to 31:8:1 due to fertilizer overuse
- Excessive synthetic inputs eliminate beneficial soil microbiota, reducing long-term productivity
- Chemical farming is a significant source of nitrous oxide (N₂O), a potent greenhouse gas
- Natural farming restores soil organic carbon, enabling carbon sequestration and climate resilience
Connection to this news: The NMNF expansion is explicitly a course-correction to the Green Revolution's ecological debt — UPSC Mains frequently uses such policy moments to probe students on trade-offs between food security and environmental sustainability.
Centrally Sponsored Schemes and Fiscal Federalism
Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) are jointly funded by the Centre and states in a defined ratio. The involvement of the department of expenditure in drafting this proposal is significant: it indicates that the fiscal architecture of the expanded mission will require a new CSS framework, with Centre-state cost-sharing arrangements needing renegotiation ahead of the 16th Finance Commission cycle.
- CSS requires state governments to co-fund and co-implement; states must "opt in" at the Gram Panchayat level
- The 15th Finance Commission period ends in 2025-26; new CSS approvals beyond FY26 require fresh deliberation
- Voluntary cluster formation (only "willing" Gram Panchayats) is a deliberate federalism-respecting design choice
Connection to this news: Understanding why the expenditure department is involved — not just the agriculture ministry — is a Mains-worthy institutional analysis about how large-scale schemes are fiscally architected in India's federal system.
Key Facts & Data
- Target: 3.25 million hectares (32.5 lakh ha) under natural farming by FY2031
- Structure: 65,000 clusters × 50 hectares each
- Currently approved NMNF: 15,000 clusters, 7.5 lakh ha, ₹2,481 crore outlay (FY2025-26)
- Soil Health Card scheme has already reduced chemical fertilizer use by 8–10% where implemented
- Over 85% of India's soil samples tested below adequate organic carbon levels (2015–2019 survey)
- Natural farming can reduce input costs for farmers, especially in rain-fed and semi-arid regions
- India's agricultural sector accounts for approximately 14% of national GHG emissions, with fertilizer use being a major contributor