In April 2025, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (MoA&FW) issued comprehensive guidelines for establishing Bio-Input Resource Centres (BRCs) under the National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF).
- The initiative is aimed at promoting chemical-free natural farming by enabling cluster-level enterprises to support the local production and distribution of natural farming inputs.
Key Features of BRC Guidelines:
i.Entrepreneur Eligibility: Only individuals or groups currently practising natural farming, or willing to adopt it immediately, are eligible to operate BRCs.
ii.Fallback Provision: If no eligible practitioner is available, the State Natural Farming Cell will nominate a farmer to begin practising natural farming from the next crop cycle.
iii.Customization of Inputs: Bio-inputs must be tailored to suit local soil conditions, cropping patterns, and specific farmer requirements.
iv.Affordability: Input costs must remain low enough to be accessible for small and marginal farmers.
v.Raw Material Access: BRCs must have reliable access to livestock manure and plant biomass for input preparation.
vi.Profit Model: BRCs are expected to run on a for-profit model to ensure long-term sustainability and benefit the rural economy.
Financial Support & Implementation:
i.A financial assistance of Rs 1 lakh will be provided for each BRC, disbursed in two equal tranches of Rs 50,000.
ii.The cost of bio-inputs produced and sold at the BRCs must be affordable, particularly for small and marginal farmers.
iii.BRCs may converge with other schemes such as:
- Formation and Promotion of 10,000 Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs)
- National Mission on Edible Oilseeds
About Bio-Input Resource Centres (BRCs):
i.BRCs are envisioned as cluster-level enterprises to ensure the availability, affordability, and accessibility of natural farming inputs such as bio-fertilizers, bio-pesticides, and organic formulations.
ii.These centres will also function as knowledge hubs for farmers transitioning to natural/organic farming, especially those unable to produce inputs individually.
iii.These centres will provide training, demonstrations, and guidance on the preparation, dosage, and application of bio-inputs suitable for local soil, crop patterns, and land-use systems.
iv.The initiative, announced by Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Ministry of Finance (MoF) in the Union Budget 2024-25, plans to set up 10,000 BRCs.
About National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF):
i.The NMNF was launched on 25th November 2024 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme(CSS), under Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare(MoA&FW) to reduce dependence on chemical inputs, promote low-cost, sustainable farming, and enhance soil health.
ii.The scheme has a total outlay of Rs 2,481 crore till the 15th Finance Commission(FC) period (2025-26), comprising a Government of India (GoI) share of Rs 1,584 crore and a State share of Rs 897 crore.
iii.In the next two years, NMNF will be implemented in 15,000 clusters in Gram Panchayats, which are willing, & reach 1 crore farmers and initiate Natural Farming (NF) in 7.5 lakh Hectare(Ha) area.
About Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW):
Union Minister- Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Constituency- Madhya Pradesh, MP)
Minister of State (MoS) Ram Nath Thakur (Rajya Sabha- Bihar);
Bhagirath Choudhary (Constituency- Ajmer, Rajasthan)
