Parvathipuram: District collector A Shyam Prasad instructed the agriculture officials to promote natural farming in a big way in the district. A one-day district-level orientation and convergence meeting on APCNF (natural farming) and kharif 2025 action plan with the convergence of the agriculture, horticulture, sericulture, SERP departments and all other allied departments was conducted here on Friday.

On this occasion, the collector instructed the staff to reach the target of 94,000 acre natural farming involving 75,000 farmers in the year. Finger millets (ragi) is one of the crops being cultivated extensively in the district and intervention could be made to take up natural farming on a large scale.

Currently, 74,000 acre is under natural farming in which 55 000 farmers are involved. “We should publicise the natural farming and its positive results to attract other famers to adopt this module,” he said.

Natural farming district programme manager Shanmuka Raju explained the activities of natural farming in the district.

District agricultural officer K Robert Paul, DRDA project director Y Satyam Naidu, Jattu Trust chairman Dr D Pari Naidu and others have attended the programme.