Union Budget 2023: Foundations of Alternative Fertilisers and Circular Economy
Not very long ago PM Narendra Modi addressed leaders in Indian agriculture to lay its emphasis on alternative fertilisers and decrease dependence on chemical fertilisers and pesticides. Citing the spike in prices of chemical fertilisers and pesticides worldwide, the Government of India is keen on encouraging states to provide access to technology and infrastructure to every farmer in the country.
In her budget speech on February 1, 2023, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made announcements that will help India to upscale organic/natural farming. India currently has 4.43 million organic farmers, according to the Economic Survey 2022-23. The budget aims to help 10 million farmers to adopt natural farming over the next three years.
Natural Farming - Call Into Question
Despite big announcements to limit the use of chemicals in agriculture, farmers are still struggling to find a roadmap that protects them from losses during the transition. 70% of India’s rural households still depend primarily on agriculture for their livelihood, with 82% of farmers being small and marginal. In recent decades, serious soil degradation, nitrogen leaching, soil compaction and loss of soil carbon have made agriculture a resource-intensive industry.
Farmics? BioAg solutions by Virenxia help farmers in tackling the biggest challenges faced by our farmers; a reliable roadmap to replace synthetic fertilisers with something natural and better, without loss in yield and earnings. Chemical fertilisers increase crop production for a short period of time but their overuse hardens the soil leading to the formation of hard pans and decreasing soil fertility.
Decoding Challenges – One At A Time
According to the Centre for Science and Environment, the biggest challenges farmers face while transitioning to chemical-free farming include lack of knowledge, non-availability of quality bio ag inputs and lack of market support to get fair and remunerative prices. Virenxia offers technologies that can transform agricultural practices, improve soil health and increase profitability.?
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Our bioag inputs help farmers in reducing the usage of chemical fertilisers. Farmics? biostimulants are a natural source of organic carbon, sulphur, selenium, gibberellins, amino acids, humic and fulvic acids and more. Extraction with chemical-free technology makes Farmics a unique bio-ag input that supports sustainable agriculture.
Besides that, we offer portable, easy-to-use IoT, AI and ML-enabled water and soil testing device AgriTMS?. Expert advice on seasonal crop nutrition is offered through our Dynamic Package of Practice.
Creating a “circular economy” has been a key interest of the government under the Gobar Dhan and PM-PRANAM schemes. With the e-Community Driven Infrastructure (e-CDI) model, Virenxia critically focuses on decentralizing the manufacturing of high-quality, chemical-free bio-ag inputs.
It all starts with the establishment of farmer collectives through community mobilization. The community uses technology forward infrastructure to produce bioag inputs locally by recycling biowaste.
e-CDI works with grass-root level organizations such as DNBF (Dr Namita Bose Foundation for Rural Sustainability) to offer disadvantaged rural workforce employment, training, opportunities and access to quality, affordable and certified BioAg resources. This establishes a sustainable circular economy within rural areas; creating a hub of opportunities and growth for all.
Do you want to know more? Get in touch with us.