HYDERABAD, AUGUST 03, 2026: The National Institute of Plant Health Management (NIPHM) and the Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP), Government of Telangana, have joined hands to accelerate natural farming in the State. NIPHM, located at Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, has recently trained 56 district-level officials and 318 women entrepreneurs in 10 batches to establish Bio-Input Resource Centres (BRCs) to promote natural farming across Telangana.
The initiative has been taken up by the Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) in collaboration with the Agriculture Department to establish 326 Bio-Input Resource Centres (BRCs) across the State under the National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF). SERP facilitated the programme by identifying and mobilising women participants from different districts for training at NIPHM. The trained women entrepreneurs were provided with essential equipment and facilities required to establish the BRCs at the village level.
Under the guidance of Dr Tara Satyavathi, Director General, NIPHM, the programmes were conducted to enable women farmers to adopt natural farming aimed at sustaining diversified crop cultivation under low rainfall conditions.
Speaking about the initiative, Dr O.P. Sharma, Director, PHM, stated that the trained women shall prepare eco-friendly inputs such as Jeevamrut, Beejamrut, Dashparni Ark and Aganastra for use in their own fields as well as those of other farmers in the clusters. Using these preparations, the application of costly chemical pesticides for pest control can be avoided. Through these centres, the trained women shall also disseminate low-cost farming techniques to other rural women while providing locally prepared bio-inputs for improving soil and plant health.
Smt. Divya Devarajan, Chief Executive Officer, SERP, Telangana, and Ms Rajitha, Chief Operating Officer, SERP, played a key role in formulating the training plan, mobilising participants and providing funding to NIPHM for conducting the capacity-building programmes. The SERP officials, namely Smt. Aruna Sree, AO, and her team, Mr Prathap and Ms Divija, coordinated with farmers’ groups and NIPHM for the successful organisation of the programme.
Interacting with the beneficiaries of the programme, Shri K. Srinivas, Registrar, NIPHM, said, “The collaboration between NIPHM and SERP marks a significant milestone in strengthening the natural farming ecosystem in the State. This initiative will promote self-reliance among farmers, reduce dependence on external agricultural inputs, improve soil health, and support environmentally sustainable farming practices. NIPHM remains committed to partnering with State Governments and other stakeholders to scale up natural farming through capacity building, technology dissemination and institutional support.”
Women participants expressed that the practical-oriented training at NIPHM was highly useful and suitable for their farming systems.
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