Back to the Soil

India is rethinking the foundations of its farm economy, and few states are better placed than Maharashtra to lead the shift. After decades of chemical-intensive cultivation that lifted output but hollowed out soils, strained water supplies and inflated costs, the old growth model is running out of road. Climate volatility, stagnant farm incomes and chronic indebtedness have made incremental fixes inadequate. What is required is a structural reset and natural farming offers Maharashtra a plausible route to reconcile profitability with ecological repair.

India’s post-Green Revolution farm strategy, heavily reliant on subsidised fertilisers, pesticides and assured procurement, delivered food security but at a mounting ecological cost which was nowhere more visible than in Maharashtra’s declining soil carbon levels, groundwater stress and rising input dependence.

The state’s physical geography makes the case stark. Maharashtra spans roughly 307 lakh hectares, with a gross cropped area of about 241 lakh hectares and a net sown area of around 166 lakh hectares, implying a relatively high cropping intensity of 145 percent. Yet this apparent intensity masks a vulnerability: barely 18 percent of the cropped area is irrigated. Agriculture here remains overwhelmingly hostage to the monsoon. In such conditions, a system that reduces water dependence, conserves soil moisture and cuts input costs is less a lifestyle choice than an economic necessity.

Natural farming promises precisely that. By minimising external chemical inputs and relying on biological processes to regenerate soil fertility, it lowers cultivation costs and improves resilience during drought years. Its appeal in Maharashtra lies not only in theory but in precedent. Long before ‘regenerative agriculture’ became policy jargon, the state produced a lineage of agro-ecological experimentation - chemical-free cotton, organic horticulture belts and community-led soil restoration. What these efforts lacked was scale, consistency and assured market access.

That gap is now being addressed. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has announced a Natural Farming State Mission, while a dedicated Natural Farming Policy for 2025–2030 is being finalised. Unlike earlier subsidy-heavy approaches, the new framework places value chains at its centre. Gram-panchayat-level clusters are to be linked with bio-input resource centres, farmer-producer organisations (FPOs), digital traceability systems and credible certification. The idea is to move beyond farm-gate savings and allow cultivators to capture price premiums through branding, processing and export-oriented marketing.

Maharashtra’s crop portfolio gives it a natural advantage. Grapes, pomegranate, mango, cashew and turmeric already enjoy market recognition; cotton, soyabean, millets and vegetables provide scale. Certified natural produce from such crops is well suited to urban domestic markets and increasingly discerning global consumers. If the logistics work, farmers stand to gain twice - by saving on fertilisers and pesticides and by earning more per unit of output.

The numbers projected by policymakers are ambitious but not implausible. Large-scale adoption could cut cultivation costs by 40–50 percent and lift farm incomes by up to 35 percent, yielding a benefit–cost ratio of around 3.5. Environmental dividends would follow: annual reductions of 6–12 million tonnes of carbon-dioxide-equivalent emissions, 15–20 percent savings in irrigation water and measurable gains in soil organic carbon. Less quantifiable, but equally significant, are improvements in farmer health, food safety for consumers and greater participation of women in decentralised value chains such as bio-input preparation and processing.

Innovation at the farm level will matter as much as policy design. One promising approach is an agroforestry-based food systems for smallholders, which integrate trees with food crops, pulses, oilseeds and livestock in multi-layered arrangements. Such systems smooth incomes across seasons, restore soil fertility and further reduce reliance on purchased inputs. With the governor publicly championing natural farming and the chief minister pushing it in mission mode, the political conditions exist to scale these models across Maharashtra’s diverse agro-climatic zones.

Execution, however, will be decisive. Natural farming collapses quickly without reliable bio-input supply, credible certification and strict monitoring. ‘Natural’ labels that cannot be trusted would destroy price premiums and farmer confidence alike. Market linkages must be built before acreage expands, not after. These risks are acknowledged in the draft policy, but acknowledgement is easier than delivery.

If Maharashtra manages the transition with discipline, it could do more than green its own fields. It could offer India a template for an agriculture that regenerates ecosystems while rewarding those who work them. In a country where farm reform is politically fraught and ecologically overdue, that would be a benchmark worth setting.

(The writer is a member of Maharashtra Agriculture Price Commission. Views personal.)