Comparative analysis of the Socio-Economic status of Natural Farming in Himachal Pradesh

Abstract

The present study focuses on a comparative analysis of the socio-economic status of farmers practicing Natural Farming (NF) and Chemical Farming (CF) in Himachal Pradesh. A multistage random sampling strategy was used to gather primary data from 200 sample farmers (100 natural and 100 chemical) in the districts of Sirmaur and Solan. The analysis focuses on demographic variables, land utilization, animal ownership, irrigation structure, farm investment patterns, and cropping patterns. The findings show that natural farming households rely more on family labor, have a somewhat higher literacy rate, and have a comparatively favorable sex ratio. Natural farmers use a bigger percentage of land for cultivation, indicating more intense land use, even if chemical farmers own comparatively larger landholdings. Larger and more varied livestock holdings as well as increased investment in livestock-related infrastructure demonstrate how important livestock is to natural farming. Irrigation and total agricultural investments are higher under chemical farming, illustrating its capital-intensive character. Due to the use of diverse cropping and legume-based systems, cropping pattern analysis reveals increased crop diversity and continuously higher cropping intensity under natural farming. According to the study's overall findings, natural farming outperforms chemical farming in terms of resource efficiency, diversity, and ecological sustainability. In order to increase the uptake and scalability of natural farming in hill regions, the results highlight the necessity of policy support in the form of training, livestock-based incentives, appropriate irrigation infrastructure, and market connections.