Issues and challenges associated with sustainable development of agriculture by natural farming: An empirical study on farmers of Odisha

Over 70% of the rural households depend on agriculture. Agriculture is an important sector of Indian economy as it contributes about 17% to the total GDP and provides employment to over 60% of the population. Indian agriculture has registered impressive growth over last few decades. Despite its positive and significant contributions to food security/supply, economy, employment, export earnings and ecological balance, yet the agriculture of the country faces many threats and challenges which, in turn, impacts rural development initiatives. The prominent challenges include land and water issues; old cultivation techniques; lack of information on marketing; poverty; degradation of natural resources and environmental issues; population growth; inadequate support services; framework and institutional constraints; and lack of agricultural and rural development policies. In this article, an effort has been made to identify the constraints faced by the agricultural sector, discuss the available farm management options and to outline the vibrant strategy backed by an efficient and effective extension to realise sustainable yields and rural development in the country. In this paper, we are trying to do a study on sustainable development in Agriculture in India through Natural firming.