Growing local varieties of crops through natural farming methods is the only solution to rising health problems, food production, and income security in the years to come, said the speakers at the inaugural ‘Our Agriculture, Crops, Cuisines, and Health’ programme of the Millets Mela-2025, on Saturday. The three-day event was inaugurated by retired IAS officer B. Janardhan Reddy, at the Police Convention Centre in Anantapur.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Janardhan Reddy said that we should not only grow what is suitable for the local soil, but also eat what is locally grown to beat malnutrition. “At a time there was shortage of food grains, but today there is abundance, which is reflected in the increased obesity levels in all ages, right from childhood,” he said.
M. Vijaya Ram, an independent campaigner of natural farming, called upon farmers in the district to follow the natural cultivation principles of Indian agriculturist, Subhash Palekar, to earn between ₹3 lakh to ₹6 lakh per acre. “The Subhash Palekar Natural Farming (SPNF) principle has benefitted 45 lakh farmers in India,” he said.
Based at Vikarabad in Telangana and Tarakaturu village in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh, M. Vijaya Ram has been practicing it for the past 15 years and pointed out that it was a holistic agriculture practice that counters commercial expenditure and market dependency of farmers for inputs.
Asking the farmers to discontinue growing the popular ‘Sona Masuri’ variety of paddy, he asked them to take up Chennangi and Kolather varieties or paddy without the application of fertilizers and pesticides.
Dependence on hired labour has also reduced as the system discourages inter-cultural operations. The whole philosophy behind this system is to make the farmer self-reliant, so that he is freed from the clutches of money lenders and market-dependent high-cost inputs, Mr. Vijaya Ram opined.
Former IAS officer and Director General of National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRD) W.R. Reddy, former DGP of Jammu and Kashmir Gopal Reddy, CEO and MD of APMAS C.S. Reddy, Assistant Collector Vinuthna, and representatives of 18 NGOs, went around the 30 stalls put up by various government agencies and NGOs after the inauguration of the Millets Mela-2025.
Meanwhile, A.F. Ecology Director Y.V. Malla Reddy briefly explained the background and the context of holding the mela. He said the event should drive a message that natural farming is the cure of all farmer problems and health issues encountered by people.
The Wassan, FES, REDS, CSA, CCD and Farmveda, along with Swacch Kaadyam and Anantha Samruddhi put up their value-added millet and groundnut products for sale, while other NGOs put up some display stalls to educate farmers on their interventions.
The A.F. Ecology Centre put up a special stall on birds that were seen in Rayalaseema and Anantapur districts specifically, which helps farmers in many ways. A conservationist, Kayala Ashok Kumar, and other photographers contributed to the collection of bird photographs. Four food stalls were also set up to serve breakfast and lunch and the menu had only millet-based food items. About 800 farmers from all over the district participated in the event.
Published – March 22, 2025 08:24 pm IST
