Staff Reporter / New Delhi
Union Cabinet today approved the launching of the National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF) as a standalone Centrally Sponsored Scheme under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare. It has been with a total outlay of 2,481 crore rupees.
Briefing media after the Union Cabinet meeting in New Delhi this evening, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishanw said, the Mission aims to revive natural farming for chemical-free and sustainable farming. He termed the decision as path-breaking, saying it will benefit farmers. Mr Vaishnaw said that one crore farmers will be covered under the National Mission on Natural Farming. He said the objective of the mission is to promote nature-based sustainable systems of farming, reduce dependency on externally purchased inputs, improve soil health and reduce input costs. He added that it will create and promote a single national brand for naturally grown chemical-free produce.
National Mission on Natural Farming will be implemented in 15 thousand clusters in Gram Panchayats. Farmers will be provided an easy simple certification system and dedicated common branding to provide access to the market for their natural farming produce.
Union Cabinet has also approved One Nation One Subscription, a new Central Sector Scheme for providing country-wide access to scholarly research articles and journal publications, through a simple, user-friendly and fully digital process. Six thousand crore rupees have been allocated for One Nation One Subscription for three calendar years – 2025, 2026, and 2027. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that in the first phase, One Nation One Subscription will be implemented in all higher educational institutions under the management of the Central or State government and Research and Development Institutions of the Central government. He said, that in the second phase, it will be initiated in the remaining higher educational institutions and then across the country.
The Department of Higher Education will have a unified portal “One Nation One Subscription” through which the institutions will be able to access the journals. The ANRF will periodically review the usage of One Nation One Subscription and publications of Indian authors of these institutions.