Rythu Sadhikara Samstha emerging as global resourceful organiSation

Anantapur: Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (RSS) of the Department of Agriculture has been promoting community based natural farming through Andhra Pradesh Community Based Natural Farming (APCBNF) by imparting training to farmers since 2016.

RSS has emerged as a resourceful organisation attracting multiple nations including representatives of the Zambian government.

Senior government officials from over 45 countries visited Andhra Pradesh so far to study the APCNF model. The Zambian delegation returned to their country after undergoing training for two weeks. Delegation included agriculture researchers from the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of Zambia, as well as farmer practitioners and project functionaries from two community based organisations - Kasisi Agricultural Training Centre (KATC) and Valponasca Learning Farm (VLF) started by Salesian Sisters.

Government of Andhra Pradesh, through the Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (RSS) in the name of APCNF is promoting natural farming on a large scale since 2016. APCNF is recognised as the world's largest agro-ecology programme, with over 10,35,000 farmers enrolled in natural farming across 4,120 villages in the State. This initiative is being implemented by Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (RSS), a not-for-profit company established by the Government of Andhra Pradesh in 2014.

In a first step towards a long-term international collaboration between Andhra Pradesh and Zambia, RSS is getting ready to play the role of an International Resource Organization (INRO) on Natural Farming (NF). Following this initial exposure visit, a senior technical team from RySS will travel to Zambia for a scoping visit to define the strategy and project timelines and deliverables.

Once this is successfully completed, senior farmer trainers from APCNF project will be deployed in Zambia for three years to seed the natural farming model in Zambia. This entire collaboration is being organised by RSS and an international philanthropic partner - NOW partners - a network of 100+ global business leaders and change experts. This exchange of knowledge and culture is a critical pillar in scaling up the APCBNF model globally and putting Andhra Pradesh on the global map, according to Laxma Naik, district manager, APCBNF.