IGGAARL launches India’s first Farmer Scientist Course in natural farming in AP

Farmer Scientist earns Rs 25,000 – 50,000 per month from A-grade NF farming during the course itself from the first year.

IGGAARL, also referred as Academy, is a collaborative institution set up by the Government of Andhra Pradesh, India with support from the Government of Germany has launched a four-year Farmer Scientist Course (FSC) in Natural Farming. A first of its kind in the world, the course builds a practicing natural farmer to become a participatory Farmer Scientist, a model farmer, a participatory learning facilitator, an entrepreneur and a climate-resilient village developer. It meets the knowledge gaps in agroecology and builds capacities of NF domain with 1,000 Farmer Scientists graduating every year. Apart from building knowledge-skills-tools for A-grade natural farming, FSC imparts technical, research and experiential knowledge and skills on science, value chains, community, ecology, and leadership. Farmer Scientist earns Rs 25,000 – 50,000 per month from A-grade NF farming during the course itself from the first year.

Intake in FSC is about 1,000 per batch. The instruction is in 25 Research and Learning Centres in districts. Initially, these students would come from AP and gradually, FSC expects to start enrolling students from outside AP.

Iris Harder, Principal Portfolio Manager, Natural Resources & Climate – Asia, KfW Development Bank, said, “We are proud to cooperate with IGGAARL and its launch of the Farmer Scientist course. A combination of theory and practice is important. Underlying Natural Farming is knowledge-intensive and knowledge is the only resource that will increase only when it is shared.”

Recently, the FSC has been launched at Pulivendula, Andhra Pradesh, India, by Kakani Govardhan Reddy, the Minister for Agriculture & Cooperation and Food Processing, Government of Andhra Pradesh. Addressing the Farmer Scientist students, Kakani Govardhan Reddy said, “APCNF is the largest agroecology programme in the country. It requires best practitioners with a curious mind, conceptual clarity, and learning facilitation abilities to scale up NF. The Farmer Scientist graduates of the FSC course will contribute to NF Global movement at local levels.” Further, he indicated their plan to give all the students of this batch a modest monthly living stipend during the entire 4-year period, as a token of recognition of them being the first batch of pioneers; first-timers in the world.

Vijay Kumar Thallam, the Executive Vice Chairman of Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (RySS) said, “What we have learnt in the past 7 years is that through the adoption of Natural Farming, it is possible for a small or marginal farmer to earn Rs. 50,000 per month from one-acre land, and Rs 10,000 per month from a 0.2 acre anytime money kitchen garden.”  

In a virtual address to the gathering, Dr Pavan Sukhdev, the Founder-CEO of GIST Impact informed that their recent study concluded that farmers using natural inputs achieved equal or higher yields up to 11 per cent compared to other farmer systems and the net incomes averaged 49 per cent and witnessed more women participation in the workforce. He feels the Farmer Scientist course launched today contributes immensely to strengthening ongoing work and influencing policies.

Farmer Scientist earns Rs 25,000 - 50,000