Gorada farmers pledge to stop using chemical fertilisers
Residents of Gorada village in Gummalaxmipuram mandal of Parvathipuram-Manyam district have passed a resolution to eliminate chemical fertilisers and pesticides, with farmers taking an oath to adopt 100% natural farming. The pledge was made before representatives of AP Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (AP-RySS) and NGO Jattu Trust. Four farmers who had bought urea dissolved it in water and prepared Jeevamrutham instead. The Bio-Village campaign, launched in 2018, now covers 242 villages, 93 bio-villages, 65,000 acres and over 55,000 farmers.
Source
Parvathipuram Manyam — news · read the original report ↗
Desk check · compared with the source
What the desk checked (4)
- Gorada village in Gummalaxmipuram mandal passed a resolution to eliminate chemical fertilisers and pesticides. — Stated in source and confirmed in a quote by Bio-Village coordinator P Uma Maheshwari.
- Four farmers who had bought urea dissolved it in water as a symbolic act. — Appears in source narrative; no separate official confirmation given.
- Natural farming now covers 242 villages, including 93 bio-villages, 65,000 acres and over 55,000 farmers. — Figures appear in source, presented in the context of the AP-RySS programme; no document cited.
- Zero Budget Natural Farming was introduced in 2016 with the Union government; Bio-Village campaign launched in 2018 at Kondabaridi. — Dates appear in source; village name spelt both Kondabariki and Kondabaridi, an internal inconsistency to check.
Analysts’ view opinion
The Gorada resolution is, at its core, a cost-side decision. Dropping chemical fertilisers and pesticides cuts a farmer's cash outlay — meaningful protection for small tribal holdings against debt and volatile input prices. But income is not only about costs: what happens to yields, and whether the produce fetches a premium, is not established in this story. The report itself notes that farmers had drifted back to chemicals in recent years to raise yields — and that is the real economic test facing this pledge.
- Lower input spending is the immediate gain: home-made inputs like Jeevamrutham substitute cash costs with labour costs, saving money but potentially adding workload.
- Cheaper inputs do not automatically mean higher earnings — if yields fall, net income can suffer, and no yield or income figures are given here.
- The scale cited — 242 villages, 65,000 acres, over 55,000 farmers — is not trivial: it implies softer demand for local fertiliser and pesticide dealers and a lighter subsidy bill for the state.
- Dissolving already-purchased urea is a powerful symbol, but it is also the destruction of a subsidised input — a reminder that commitment carries a private cost.
- The acknowledged relapse into chemical use in past years suggests pledges are hard to sustain without price incentives or assured markets.
What to watch — Watch yields and net incomes in Gorada and Mooliguda over the next two or three seasons, and whether any dedicated market or price premium emerges for naturally grown produce.
The story offers no data on yields, prices or farm net income, and does not specify how many farmers took the oath or how much acreage the switch actually covers.
Deep dive
Research brief · 8 facts · 6 dates · exam-readyThe brief
Context
Gorada village in Gummalaxmipuram mandal of Andhra Pradesh's newly carved Parvathipuram-Manyam district has passed a gram sabha resolution to stop using chemical fertilisers and pesticides, with farmers swearing to shift to 100% natural farming. The move comes under the revived 'Bio-Village' campaign run by AP Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (AP-RySS) with the local NGO Jattu Trust. Andhra Pradesh introduced Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) in 2016 in collaboration with the Union government, and the Bio-Village movement began in 2018 at Kondabaridi village. The campaign aims to reverse a trend of farmers returning to synthetic inputs in search of higher yields.
Key facts
- Residents of Gorada village, Gummalaxmipuram mandal, Parvathipuram-Manyam district, passed a resolution to eliminate chemical fertilisers and pesticides from farming.
- Farmers took the oath in the presence of representatives of AP Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (AP-RySS) and local NGO Jattu Trust.
- Four farmers who had already purchased urea dissolved it in water as a symbolic act and instead joined villagers in preparing Jeevamrutham.
- The government introduced Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) in 2016 in collaboration with the Union government.
- Natural farming in the district began at Kondabariki village with 3,161 farmers across 50 villages in the erstwhile Vizianagaram district under AP-RySS.
- The initiative has reached 242 villages, including 93 bio-villages, covering 65,000 acres and involving more than 55,000 farmers.
- The 'Bio-Village' campaign was originally launched in 2018 at Kondabaridi village and has now been revitalised in Parvathipuram-Manyam district.
- Village-level bio-committees of women's SHGs, farmers and youth were formed; gram sabhas and traditional arts are used for awareness.
Timeline
- 2016Government introduces Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) in collaboration with the Union government.
- 2018'Bio-Village' campaign launched at Kondabaridi village.
- Initial phase (erstwhile Vizianagaram district)Natural farming started at Kondabariki village with 3,161 farmers across 50 villages under AP-RySS.
- Past few yearsSeveral farmers revert to chemical fertilisers and pesticides to increase yields.
- Recent daysAP-RySS and Jattu Trust form bio-committees, hold gram sabhas and awareness drives through traditional arts.
- Recent gram sabha (reported 01 Sep 2026)Gorada village passes resolution against fertilisers/pesticides; four farmers dissolve purchased urea and prepare Jeevamrutham.
Who has a stake
- Farmers of Gorada and Mooliguda hamlets — Lower input costs and soil fertility gains from natural farming, but risk of yield loss without synthetic inputs.
- AP Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (AP-RySS) — State agency driving natural farming; its Bio-Village campaign's credibility depends on farmers not reverting to chemicals.
- Jattu Trust (local NGO) — Partner mobilising villages, forming bio-committees and running gram sabha awareness drives.
- Women's self-help groups and village youth — Members of village-level bio-committees tasked with sustaining the natural farming momentum.
- District administration, Parvathipuram-Manyam — Scaling natural farming across 242 villages and 93 bio-villages in a newly carved, largely tribal district.
- P Uma Maheshwari, Bio-Village coordinator — Leads awareness campaign; expects the drive to help create bio-villages across Manyam district.
Why it matters
A village-level resolution against synthetic inputs shows how community institutions like gram sabhas and SHGs can enforce agro-ecological change that top-down schemes struggle to sustain. With input costs and climate risk rising, natural farming is being pitched as a low-cost, soil-restoring alternative, especially in tribal tracts. The Gorada case also flags the core challenge: farmers had drifted back to fertilisers for higher yields, making retention, not adoption, the real test.
UPSC angle
Prelims pointers
- Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) was introduced in 2016 in collaboration with the Union government.
- AP Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (AP-RySS) is the agency implementing natural farming in Andhra Pradesh.
- 'Bio-Village' campaign was launched in 2018 at Kondabaridi village.
- Gorada and Mooliguda are villages in Gummalaxmipuram mandal, Parvathipuram-Manyam district (carved out of erstwhile Vizianagaram district).
- Scale as per source: 242 villages, 93 bio-villages, 65,000 acres, over 55,000 farmers.
- Jeevamrutham is the natural farming input prepared by farmers as an alternative to urea.
Mains framing
Gorada village's resolution to abandon chemical fertilisers and pesticides illustrates both the promise and the fragility of India's natural farming transition. Andhra Pradesh's ZBNF push, launched in 2016 with Union government collaboration and institutionalised through AP-RySS, expanded from 3,161 farmers in 50 villages of erstwhile Vizianagaram district to 242 villages, 93 bio-villages, 65,000 acres and over 55,000 farmers. Yet the source notes that several farmers reverted to synthetic inputs in recent years to raise yields, revealing that the binding constraint is not awareness alone but the perceived yield-income trade-off during transition. The revived Bio-Village campaign's response is institutional rather than purely technical: village-level bio-committees of women's SHGs, farmers and youth, gram sabha resolutions, and awareness through traditional arts, plus symbolic acts like dissolving purchased urea and collectively preparing Jeevamrutham. As the coordinator argues, the economic case rests on sharply lower input expenditure and improved soil fertility. The way forward implied by the story lies in sustaining collective peer accountability, extension support and demonstration of comparable incomes, so that resolutions translate into durable practice rather than periodic pledges.
Key terms
- Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF)
- Farming approach introduced by the government in 2016 with the Union government, avoiding purchased chemical fertilisers and pesticides.
- AP Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (AP-RySS)
- Andhra Pradesh agency under whose aegis natural farming is implemented in the district.
- Bio-Village campaign
- Movement launched in 2018 at Kondabaridi village to make whole villages free of chemical fertilisers and pesticides.
- Jeevamrutham
- Natural/organic liquid manure prepared by farmers as an alternative to chemical fertilisers like urea.
- Bio-committee
- Village-level body of women's SHGs, farmers and youth formed to drive and sustain natural farming.
- Gram sabha
- Village assembly where the Gorada resolution against fertilisers and pesticides was passed.
Practice questions
- Examine how community institutions such as gram sabhas and self-help groups can sustain a shift to natural farming, using the Bio-Village campaign in Parvathipuram-Manyam district as an example.
- Natural farming lowers input costs but raises yield concerns. Critically evaluate this trade-off in the light of Andhra Pradesh's ZBNF experience since 2016.
- Discuss the role of state agencies and NGOs working in partnership in promoting sustainable agriculture in tribal districts.
Grounded only in the source report — figures and dates are the source's, not inferred.