Bora said that in hilly areas, especially, the tribal farmers have been practicing natural farming traditionally for generations. These farmers now only need scientific techniques compatible with their traditional farming so that they can boost their production.
While addressing the one-day workshop on ‘National Mission on Natural Farming’ organized by the department of Agriculture, Government of Assam in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare at Assam Administrative Staff College, Guwahati Bora referred to the adverse impact of climate change on the agricultural sector around the world.
The minister urged the agriculture officers to focus on sustainable agricultural production system to avoid the irreversible impacts on the agro-ecosystem.
Bora highlighted the threat to human health caused by indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in agriculture field and urged the Assam Agricultural University and other agricultural research institutes of North Eastern States to provide proper technical guidance to the farmers in organic and natural farming. Highlighting the different steps initiated by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to make Assam a leading agricultural state by increasing the income of small and marginal farmers, the agriculture minister said that since most of the farmers in the state are marginal, practicing natural farming system will be more profitable for them as the cost of production of chemical based farming system is rising day by day.
The minister also urged the scientists of Assam Agricultural University to pay attention for creating a more holistic, sustainable, safe management production system on natural farming.