{"id":829,"date":"2025-11-19T22:54:06","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T17:24:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/?p=829"},"modified":"2025-11-19T23:22:27","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T17:52:27","slug":"pm-modi-calls-for-national-shift-to-intercropping-and-organic-farming-at-coimbatore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/?p=829","title":{"rendered":"PM Modi calls for national shift to intercropping and organic farming at Coimbatore"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Chennai, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday urged farmers across the country to move away from monocropping and embrace intercropping and organic farming as the foundation for India\u2019s agricultural future.
He was speaking after inaugurating the South India Natural Farming Summit at the CODISSIA grounds in Coimbatore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opening his speech with references rooted in local culture, Modi said he bows to Maruthamalai Murugan, adding that Coimbatore is a land known for compassion, culture, and industrial strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCoimbatore is the powerhouse of South India\u2019s industrial sector and a major contributor to the nation\u2019s textile industry,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Prime Minister praised Tamil Nadu farmers for their resilience and recalled that former Coimbatore MP C.P. Radhakrishnan now serves the nation as Vice-President. He reiterated that organic and natural farming are close to his heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHad I not attended this summit today, I would have missed an opportunity to learn many new things,\u201d he remarked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PM Modi said India is emerging as a global hub for organic farming, driven by young farmers modernising agriculture and strengthening the rural economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the past few years, India\u2019s agricultural exports have doubled, reflecting a structural shift in the sector,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Highlighting the Centre\u2019s support to farmers, PM Modi said over Rs 10,000 crore was disbursed this year through the Kisan Credit Card scheme alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government on Wednesday released the 21st instalment of PM-KISAN, transferring Rs 18,000 crore to nine crore farmers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSmall farmers have collectively received Rs 4 lakh crore under this scheme so far,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also noted that reducing GST on organic fertilisers has benefited cultivators, while the excessive use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides has harmed soil fertility and increased production costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOrganic farming is the need of this century. It preserves soil health and reduces ecological damage,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Calling for a revival of traditional food systems, the Prime Minister emphasised the cultivation of millets, which have long been part of Tamil Nadu\u2019s food culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe offer honey and thinai to Lord Murugan. These grains have nourished generations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PM Modi said southern states are like a \u201cliving agricultural university\u201d for the country, citing Kerala\u2019s hill farmers who practice multilevel cropping \u2014 growing pepper and other crops between coconut and jackfruit trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intercropping, he stressed, should become a national movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTamil Nadu alone cultivates organic crops in 35,000 hectares. Such positive changes must spread across the country,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organic produce, he said, should reach global markets, and agricultural curricula must include natural farming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He urged farmers to begin an \u201corganic revolution\u201d even if it is on just one acre in one season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStrengthening the organic farming market and achieving farmer self-reliance are essential, and the government will fully support this journey,\u201d the Prime Minister said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chennai, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday urged farmers across the country to move away from monocropping and embrace intercropping and organic farming as the foundation for India\u2019s agricultural future.He […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-display","category-national","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=829"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":845,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829\/revisions\/845"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}