The Chhattisgarh State Government is promoting natural farming and the cultivation of millets (coarse grains) on a large scale to increase farmers’ income, improve soil health, and provide nutritious food to the people. This preserves soil fertility for a long time, saves water, and provides consumers with food products that are toxic and chemical-free. This eliminates the need to purchase expensive fertilizers or pesticides from outside, significantly reducing farmers’ farming costs and increasing profits.
“Khet Bachao Abhiyan” launched in Dantewada District
With the aim of preserving agricultural land fertility, reducing farmers’ costs, and promoting natural farming, the “Khet Bachao Abhiyan” is being launched in Dantewada district. This strategic action plan, prepared by the Agriculture Department, aims to revive soil health, conserve water, preserve traditional seeds, and establish natural farming methods as a mass movement. The “Khet Bachao Abhiyan” is considered a historic initiative towards giving Dantewada a new identity for natural farming, biodiversity conservation, and farmer prosperity. This campaign, designed to promote
millets as “Shri Anan” (the grain of wealth),
will be implemented in a phased manner across all four development blocks of Dantewada, taking into account the district’s geographical conditions, rich tribal traditions, and biodiversity. The core spirit of the campaign is that “soil is not merely a medium of production, but a vibrant ecosystem, the protection of which guarantees future food security and farmer prosperity.” Several important steps are being taken to promote crops like sorghum, bajra, ragi (madia), kodo, and kutki, which have been designated as superfoods and “Shri Anan” (grain of wealth). Millets grow with significantly less water and fertilizer than conventional grains and are drought-resistant.
The campaign’s key objectives
include improving soil health, expanding natural farming, preserving traditional seeds, and conserving water and moisture. Farmers will be gradually encouraged to shift from chemical farming to natural and organic farming, which will reduce farming costs and strengthen environmental balance.
The five-phase implementation
plan will first strengthen soil health mapping and soil health cards in the district. After this, nutritious millets and local crops like Ragi, Kodo, Kutki will be encouraged. In the third phase, efforts will be made to reduce dependence on external agricultural inputs by training farmers in organic manure, blue-green algae and vermicompost production. Along with this, conservation of local seeds will be promoted by establishing traditional seed markets and community seed banks. In the final phase, green manure-producing plants like Gliricidia will be planted on a large scale on the field boundaries. Under the campaign, a target has been set to distribute and plant one lakh plants.
- Targets set for the district
The campaign will be implemented in 135 gram panchayats in the district for the 2025-26 fiscal year. The goal is to expand natural farming to 4,600 hectares, cultivate millets to 4,300 hectares, and establish 40 community seed banks. The government is making a concerted effort to increase the area under millet cultivation, distribute these nutritious grains through the public distribution system, and support entrepreneurs working with millet-based products.
- Farmers will get many benefits
Successful implementation of the campaign is expected to increase farm organic carbon levels over the next three years. Reducing reliance on chemical fertilizers and pesticides could reduce farmers’ production costs by 35 to 40 percent. This will also open up new opportunities for Dantewada’s millets to reach the national market. They are a good source of macro and micronutrients. They are beneficial for the heart, improve bone health, prevent anemia, delay the onset of diabetes (they are low on the glycemic index), maintain a healthy weight, and improve intestinal inflammation.
- New Initiatives in the Agricultural Sector
In Dantewada district, along with Ragi, cultivation of other crops like Kodo-Kutki, Jowar, Bajra, Maize, Pulses and Oilseeds is also being encouraged. The Agriculture Department is encouraging farmers to adopt multi-cropping system to increase their sources of income and make farming more sustainable. Agricultural experts believe that this campaign is not only a change in farming methods but also an important step towards protecting soil, water, biodiversity and farmers’ livelihoods. If the plan succeeds as per the set goals, Dantewada can become an example for the entire state as a model of natural farming and sustainable agriculture.