Amaravati, Jul 12 (IANS): Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming (APCNF) has won one-million-pound shared prize for natural farming by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

The initiative was launched by the Andhra Pradesh government but implemented by the non-profit organisation Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (RySS).

APCNF shared the cash prize with renowned soil scientist Padma Shri Rattan Lal and SEKEM (Egypt-based group of NGOs). These three entities have won the award together for their work in agriculture

Andhra Pradesh Natural Farming has shifted one million smallholder farmers (mostly women) to natural farming instead of chemical farming across 5,00,000 hectares in Andhra Pradesh.

The programme aims to reach all 8 million farmer households in Andhra over the next 10 years.

The model is already incubated across 12 states in India and will be introduced to five other Global South countries, the organisation said.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said on Friday that he was delighted to learn that APCNF has won the prestigious Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity 2024.

“I am incredibly proud to witness the worldwide acknowledgement of APCNF’s groundbreaking Zero Budget Natural Farming model, which was launched in 2016 during my previous term as Chief Minister. I am proud that we transformed an astonishing 5 lakh acres into organic farmlands between 2016-19. The APCNF model is unique because it enhances livelihoods for farmers, offers greater resilience to climate change, provides healthier and more nutritious food, and, at the same time heals planetary health,” Naidu posted on ‘X’.

“I congratulate our farmer sister Nagendramma, who received the award on behalf of ACPNF, representing one million farmers of Andhra Pradesh who are on this incredible journey of natural farming,” he added.