Modern scientific farming practices always have a massive impact on the environment. Excessive use of fertilisers and pesticides have severely affected our air, water and soil. Introduction of high yielding and genetically modified crops have resulted in the extinction of many of our local varieties. Non-judicious use of pesticides had a severe impact on our flora and fauna. Soil erosion and soil
degradation have affected the microbial community, nutrient cycle, pest control and chemical transformation properties of soil. It's high time we think about an alternative and sustainable way of farming. Natural farming is the answer to all the ill-effects of modern scientific farming methods. Natural farming is not a new thing. It is native to our country. Our ancestors have evolved, and been doing, many nature-friendly farming practices and methods such as mixed farming, mixed cropping and crop rotation. In India, natural farming is often termed as ‘Rishi Kheti’ - a farming method based on ancient Vedic principles of farming like the use of animal waste and herbal preparations for promoting plant growth and controlling insects and pests. Unlike organic farming, natural farming is done using inputs from the farm system or nearby local ecosystems. The idea behind this concept is to let nature play a dominant role. Here, the farmer is in the role of a catalyst and the real ‘farming’ is done by nature itself. What we do Indus Cloud Farming (ICF) is an agribusiness start-up offering agriculture-related services such as identifying and locating suitable farmlands, farm development, administration and operations, and supply chain of farm products. We introduce a unique agriculture farming platform (Agriculture as a Service), where landowners and investors can partner with Indus Cloud Farming to build and maintain sustainable natural farms. As a company, we identify and select lands that are ideal for setting up farms based on the type of land, soil fertility, availability of water and location accessibility. We lease them for a time period of three to five years. In some cases, the lease period goes up to ten years. We will handle all the farming activities, such as crop selection, tilling and soil preparation, seed selection and sowing, irrigation, crop management, administration. We follow all-natural farming practices, which includes Desi indigenous seeds and by-products from Desi Cow to increase soil fertility levels. We also have adequate facilities for harvest and post-harvest operations such as cleaning, storage, processing, value addition, labelling, packing and dispatching. Apart from creating its own platforms for selling the products (online), we will reach out to the consumers either directly or through vendors. The main areas of focus include:- • Making natural farming easy. It is no more a dream for landowners and investors to build natural farms. • Even without any farming knowledge, even if you are staying far away from your land, you can still keep your farms fertile and more natural. • Practising and popularising proven traditional farming methods and practices. • The focus always is to make the lands rich in terms of nutrients and minerals. • Training and motivating local farming communities to re-invent the traditional and natural cultivation practices. • Produce healthy and affordable natural products
