Natural Farming at the Crossroads: Reflections from the Ground In Uttar Pradesh
Grassroots change is visible in Uttar Pradesh’s natural farming clusters; the question is whether policy will stay the course
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SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth | SDG 12: Responsible Consumption & Production
Institutions: Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare | Ministry of Rural Development
New Delhi has raised its fertiliser budget outlay to ₹1.92 lakh crore (about $23 billion) for 2024–25, locking in the chemical-input regime that has defined the Green Revolution. At the same time, it has launched the National Mission on Natural Farming with a budget of ₹2,481 crore, promising to move 7.5 lakh hectares into chemical-free production and to enrol one crore farmers in organic clusters. The contradiction is as clear in the villages as it is in the budget books: the state subsidises fertiliser at scale while asking farmers to farm differently.
Nowhere is this more evident than in Uttar Pradesh, which has embarked on one of India’s most ambitious pushes for natural farming. The government has promised to bring 2.5 lakh farmers across 2,144 gram panchayats into 50-hectare clusters, backed by bio-input centres in every district and women “Krishi Sakhis” trained as extension workers at a modest honorarium of about ₹5,000 per month. In Prayagraj alone, 12 clusters already involve more than 1,500 farmers.
It is against this backdrop that the experience of grassroots actors becomes crucial. Few have seen both the urban and rural sides of this story as closely as Rakesh Kumar Pandey, the CEO of a grassroot development organisation Shramik Bharti. His organisation’s trajectory – from factory shop floors in Kanpur to farm households across Uttar Pradesh – mirrors the very tensions between state policy and community livelihood.
From Shop Floors to Fields: The Same Fight for Dignity
Shramik Bharti’s journey into natural farming has its roots in urban labour struggles. In the bustling leather and textile hubs of Kanpur in the 1980s, its founder Ganesh Pandey – Rakesh’s father – saw workers fighting for fair wages and safer conditions. What began as advocacy for factory labour soon stretched beyond the city, into villages where rural livelihoods faced their own crises of debt, insecurity, and exclusion.
Today, under Rakesh’s leadership, Shramik Bharti works across ten districts of Uttar Pradesh and into Punjab, helping communities secure dignified livelihoods through sustainable agriculture, health awareness, education, and empowerment. For Rakesh, the central thread has never changed:
“The question has always been control,” he says. “Factory or field, it’s the same struggle”
Natural farming, in his eyes, is not just about ecology but about survival – reducing dependency on purchased inputs, cutting household costs, and regaining confidence that farming can be a dignified livelihood.
Community Engagement: From Women to Households
Shramik Bharti’s early years focused heavily on women’s self-help groups (SHGs), enabling financial independence and solidarity. Over time, the lesson was clear: while women’s collectives are powerful, involving entire households deepens the change.
“When the entire family participates, women feel more supported and confident,” Rakesh notes.
Kitchen gardens became a natural entry point. Small plots managed with compost and biomass reduced food bills and provided pesticide-free vegetables, a visible proof that change was possible. Side-by-side demonstrations of natural and chemical methods let farmers judge the difference for themselves. From there, families began extending natural practices to larger plots.
Over the past decade this step-by-step method has spread across districts, strengthened by farmer producer organisations, community seed banks, and informal peer networks.
“Convincing farmers to reduce chemical use has not been easy. Yields sometimes dip, and there is a deep-rooted belief that organic farming cannot sustain livelihoods,” Rakesh says. “What matters most is that families see and taste the difference before they commit.”
Since 2015, many farmers have moved from low chemical use to fully organic cultivation. Shramik Bharti’s work now spans UP, Punjab, and parts of Madhya Pradesh, with training, peer learning, and steady institutional support playing key roles.
Scientific evidence supports what farmers experience: under good management, yield gaps close over time, particularly in legumes and horticulture. Input costs fall, resilience improves, and families save not only on farming expenses but also on medicines when diets improve.
Beyond Agronomy: Building Invisible Infrastructure
Rakesh cautions against imagining the transition as a simple swap of fertiliser for compost. Farming habits formed over generations are slow to shift. True change, he insists, also requires an inner transformation.
Shramik Bharti invests in what he calls the “invisible infrastructure” of cooperation and values. Workshops on universal human values bring farmers together to reflect on everyday challenges – from managing water to resolving disputes – not by prescribing morals, but by opening space for self-examination.
“We encourage farmers to explore deeper self-awareness and connection with reality, which reflects in their actions towards sustainable living,” Rakesh explains.
This approach gained momentum through Waqt Ki Awaaz 91.2 FM, the community radio station Shramik Bharti runs in Kanpur Dehat. Mixing practical farming tips with farmer-to-farmer stories, the station has carried voices across nearly 300 villages, reaching hundreds of thousands. During the pandemic, when gatherings were impossible, the station became a lifeline for keeping dialogue on natural farming alive.
The Stakes and Policy Choices
Uttar Pradesh’s cluster model has clear strengths: Krishi Sakhis offer trusted advice, per-acre incentives reduce risk, and bio-input centres cut search costs. Yet Rakesh warns that if success is measured only by enrolment numbers, the initiative risks degenerating into a box-ticking exercise.
“The real test is not how many farmers join this year,” he says. “It is whether they see natural farming as their own practice rather than a state experiment.”
The stakes, he argues, could not be higher. India faces rising food-safety concerns, deteriorating soils, and climate shocks that expose the fragility of chemical-dependent systems. Yet the government spends more than fifty times more on fertiliser subsidies than on natural farming schemes.
Policy, he believes, must provide a more consistent mandate. First, agricultural curricula need to integrate natural farming into core agronomy, soil science, and farm business courses so that new graduates do not continue to promote fertiliser-heavy advice. Second, incentives should be designed to reward outcomes such as improvements in soil organic carbon, reductions in synthetic nitrogen use, or water saved per tonne of rice. Third, the retail front-ends of the agricultural system – the 1.8 lakh PM-Kisan Samriddhi Kendras that currently operate as fertiliser shops – could be reimagined as bio-input depots and farmer training hubs if policy support were redirected.
The Paradox and the Opportunity
India stands at a crossroad. It can continue to fund a system that exhausts soil and traps farmers in debt. Or it can pay for the transition that farmers are already experimenting with in their backyards.
“Empowering people to take charge of their development leads to more durable and meaningful change,” Rakesh reflects. “Our experience shows that addressing both the outer and inner aspects is essential to building resilient and thriving rural communities.”
The paradox is real – but so is the opportunity.
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Rakesh Kumar Pandey is Chief Executive Officer of Shramik Bharti, based at Kanpur. All the details are based on his account and have been approved for publication. This piece was prepared with assistance from Ms Vaishali Sharma, a member of the editorial team at The Policy Edge.