- Krishi Vigyan Kendras: – Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) and some extensions related to this play a central role to help the farmers. Krishi Vigyan Kendras offer hands‑on training, on‑farm demonstrations, field visits, and crop advisory services covering cultivation, irrigation management training, pest management, natural farming, polyhouses, and some more trainings. In such kinds of trainings farmers learn to prepare organic manure and soil and seed treatments and some other things related to farming. Krishi Vigyan Kendras – Kandghat is playing important role in this.
- Natural Farming: – Himachal Pradesh’s Chief Minister launched a programme to promote natural farming in all districts. This involved panchayat‑wise camps, farmer registration, training, and certification, along with high‑yielding seeds and model natural farms at various places. The government has also created Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) programs. Around ₹3 crore was disbursed as subsidies under ATMA to approximately 11,000 natural‑farming farmers in Sirmaur in the last year alone according to daily newspaper “The Tribune.”
- Marketing Support & MSP: – Himachal has become the first state to declare MSP on milk in India. Himachal is also the first Indian state to declare MSPs for naturally grown crops. In Sirmaur, MSP for wheat, maize and turmeric have been fixed. Many cooperative societies distribute seeds, fertilizers and other agricultural equipments in Sirmaur on suitable rates. Some societies help farmers to sell their products too.
- Some Financial Schemes for Farmers and Subsidies: – According to the newspaper “The Tribune” farmers in Sirmaur have received ₹3.16 crore under the Chief Minister’s Crop Protection Scheme, ₹1.90 crore for agricultural mechanization and ₹1.85 crore for broader crop promotion—benefiting over 11,000 farmers. The national PM‑Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojna still provides ₹6,000/year in direct income support to eligible landholding farmers via bank transfers.
- Infrastructure Support by Government and Diversification: – The climate and weather conditions of Sirmaur suits to tomato, ginger, garlic, capsicum, beans, peas, cauliflower, kiwi, apple etc., and these are also high value cash crops too. Government encourages farmers to do the farming of these things. To decrease dependency on rain water, farmers are motivated towards rain water harvesting making small ponds, farmers are guided to use drip irrigation, and to do farming in polyhouses too.
- Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna: – This fasal bima yojna aims to provide insurance coverage and financial support to the farmers in the event of failure of any of the notified crop as a result of natural calamities, pests & diseases. It aims to stabilize the income of farmers to ensure their continuance in farming. It also focuses to encourage farmers to adopt innovative and modern agricultural practices. It also ensures flow of credit to the agriculture sector.
- Livelihood Innovation via NGOs & FPOs: – An initiative by AT India in collaboration with Mankind Pharma across 10 remote Sirmaur villages included training in spice cultivation, mushroom farming, beekeeping. Such kind of organizations also helps in establishing polyhouses with drip irrigation etc. NGOs helps in plantation drive, soil health cards, and in the renovation of water tanks to support irrigation.
- Overall Impact on the Life of Farmers in Sirmaur: – As MSP have been decided for some crops and milk, the income of farmers have increased too. There is skill and knowledge enhancement by training on natural and organic farming, crop diversification, and sustainable practices. Dependency on conventional chemical farming has decreased, with a shift toward eco-friendly, market-linked agriculture. Drip irrigation, rainwater harvesting, and community tank restoration has uplifted the life standards of farmers in Sirmaur too.
Final Thought: – Sirmaur’s farmers are receiving a comprehensive mix of training, financial incentives, marketing support, and eco-driven agriculture guidance from state agencies, universities, cooperatives, and NGOs. Together, these initiatives are boosting incomes, promoting natural farming, diversifying crops, and empowering local communities. Arjun Kirpal’s Compassion trust has also set up a polyhouse model on very low prices, doing organic farming, no use of fertilizers and pesticides, using rain water harvesting ponds for irrigation and it has a small model of drip irrigation too. Simultaneously, AKCT conducts awareness programs for farmers too.
