Schemes

RAJIV GANDHI PRAKRITIK KHETI KHUSHHAL KISAN YOJANA

The state government launched the “Prakrit Kheti Khushhal Kisan Yojana” in 2018-19 to promote natural farming. Under this scheme, the use of chemicals is discouraged, and the use of inputs based on cow dung, cow urine from indigenous cows, and local plant-based materials is recommended. The main objectives are environmental protection, promotion of crop diversification, and reduction in crop production costs.

To promote natural farming, the following steps are being taken:

The scheme is guided at the state level by a High-Level Committee chaired by the Hon’ble Chief Minister. Its implementation and monitoring are carried out by a Special Task Force chaired by the Chief Secretary. For execution and monitoring, a State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) under the chairmanship of the State Project Director has been established. This unit implements the scheme across the state through the Agriculture Department. At the district level, the scheme is run as an Atma Project, including three district officers and Block Technical Managers and Assistant Technical Managers.
Himachal Pradesh is the first state in India to fix Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for products grown under natural farming: ₹40 per kg for maize, ₹60 per kg for wheat, ₹90 per kg for raw turmeric, and ₹60 per kg for barley.
Under this scheme, special emphasis is given to capacity building of farmers, maintaining regular contact, monitoring, and providing advice and support.
To make this farming method easily understandable, related literature is provided free of cost by the SPIU.

Subsidies and Support to Promote Natural Farming

A maximum subsidy of ₹2,250 per natural farming farmer family for purchasing drums used to prepare inputs (₹750 per drum, up to 3 drums per family).
Awareness programs for farmers and agricultural, horticultural, and livestock extension officers to familiarize them with the new system.
Provision for preparation of training materials by universities.
A maximum of ₹8,000 per farmer for constructing pits to collect cow urine by paving cow shed floors.
A 50% subsidy, up to ₹25,000, for the purchase of Indian breed cows, with an additional ₹5,000 for transportation.

Current Status

So far, 220,000 farmer and horticulturist families have adopted this farming method fully or partially.
This method has reached 99.3% of panchayats in the state and is being practiced on 38,437 hectares of land.
The goal is to gradually involve 9.61 lakh farmer families in this method.
For marketing natural farming products, 10 markets have been designated and basic infrastructure is being developed.
During the financial year 2024-25, the state government spent ₹14.85 crore on this scheme, and for 2025-26, ₹7.28 crore has been allocated.
To ensure transparency and traceability between farmers and consumers, a innovative self-certification system website (spnfhp.in) was launched in October 2022 for ‘Self Assessed Certification System’ to ensure the transparency and traceability among the farmer and consumer. Over 200,000 natural farming farmers across the state have been registered so far, out of which 198,000 farmers and horticulturists have received certification. This certification is completely free and also complies with the standards established by PGS (Participatory Guarantee System).

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Guidelines