Prime Minister Narender Modi is all set to present a success story of the Zero-based Natural Farming of the double engine BJP-ruled states of Himachal and Gujarat as a game changer to win back the “estranged section of farmers” on December 16 at the last day of the three days long pre-Vibrant Gujarat Summit.
After the repeal of the three farm laws , the Pre-Vibrant Summit in Gujarat is being viewed as a second big bid to negate the impact and fallout of the 378-day long farmers’ movement on the BJP’s poll prospectus in poll-bound states.
The protracted movement had led Prime Minister to announce the repeal of the controversial three farm laws on November 19, which were finally repealed in parliament later in November in the recent session.
Consequently, KIsan Sanyukt Morcha had called off the stir on December 11 and the Left and other supporters celebrated the day as Farmers Victory Day to keep its political impact alive.
It is in this background that Prime Minister has learnt to have collated the “success stories and challenges of the zero-based natural farming of the BJP-ruled states including Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat” and others at the Chief Ministers Conclave of the BJP-ruled states. Modi has presided over this Conclave at Varanasi on Tuesday in the presence of BJP National President Jagat Prakash Nadda and other strategists from the BJP’s war room, sources said.
Apart from this, Prime Minister also reviewed the progress of implementation of various Centrally-sponsored flagship programmes by the states to chalk out a political strategy for the coming state assembly elections in Himachal, UP, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa, Manipur and other states.
Prime Minister will address the farmers across the country on natural farming on the last day of three-day Pre-Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2021 on December 16, 2021.
Modi while repealing the contentious laws on November 19 had announced the launch of the zero-based natural farming to upscale the crisis-ridden farming sector in the country. He will cite the “success stories of the double engine BJP -ruled states to pin the rival opposition single engine governments” and making a strong case for doubling farmers income by 2022 as he had promised earlier.
“The idea is to win back a large section of estranged farmers from Punjab, Haryana, western UP and other parts of India, who had launched the 378 days long agitation at Singhu and Gaziabad borders that has brought a bad name for the Modi government”, observed analysts.
Presenting his success story of Himachal Pradesh at Conclave, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said as many as 153643 famers practicing the natural farming have netted about 63.6 percent increase in their income in the state under this scheme.
Other Chief Ministers from the BJP ruled states also gave their presentations on their score cards before the Prime Minister and BJP Chief, outlining their achievements and challenges that they are likely to face from their political rivals, sources said.
Delivering a detailed presentation on zero budget natural farming Jai Ram Thakur said the zero based budget farming has given a boost to farmers’ income and diversification of crops. The farmers are growing nine crops simultaneously in this area, he said.
The state government is trying to create a niche for Himachal agriculture and horticulture products by offering produce grown by using the natural farming techniques such as cow urine, cow dung and other local fertilizers. He also briefed on the other developmental initiatives covering social security, women empowerment and good governance in the state.
Beside this, Himachal Pradesh has prepared future strategies for natural farming that will be presented at the Gujarat Conclave.
Executive Director, Prakritik Kheti Khushhal Kisan Yojana, Professor, Rajeshwar Singh Chandel will make a presentation on best practices of natural farming in Himachal Pradesh at Pre-Vibrant Gujarat Summit, highlighting various aspects of natural farming in a session.
Professor Chandel said that it is a proud moment that the initiative taken by the tiny hill state of Himachal Pradesh is now getting national recognition. About 1,53,643 farmers and orchardists have adopted this technique on over one lakh bigha (9,192 hectare) land.
But the million dollar question remains: whether or not the zero-based natural farming that was started in Himachal Pradesh by the then governor Acharya Devvrat and its main proponent Subhash Palekar turn out be a game changer for the farmers or will it pay political dividends for BJP. Only the time will tell.
(Kuldeep Chauhan is Editor and Publisher, HimbuMail)
