Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday, 1 June 2025, formally launched the 'Khet Bachao Abhiyan' — a nationwide campaign to alert farmers about the long-term damage caused by the excessive and imbalanced use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides on soil health. The campaign kicked off from Ramsiya village in Raisen district, Madhya Pradesh, with a mandate running through 30 June 2025.

A day before the national launch, Chouhan convened a virtual interaction with Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) institutions, agricultural universities, and senior Central and state government officials to lay out a detailed operational roadmap for the campaign.

What the Campaign Covers

The Khet Bachao Abhiyan will focus on raising farmer awareness across several critical areas: balanced fertiliser use, soil testing, soil health cards, natural farming, crop selection, water conservation, green manuring, and alternative agricultural practices suited to low-rainfall conditions. The campaign will also help farmers identify counterfeit fertilisers, seeds, and pesticides — a persistent problem in rural markets.

Chouhan stressed that field-level demonstrations, scientific evidence, and practical examples would be central to building farmer confidence. 'Therefore, timely awareness generation and practical interventions have become essential,' he said, citing rising temperatures, the climate crisis, and deteriorating soil health as the core challenges facing Indian agriculture today.

The Operational Roadmap

Chouhan directed that a district-level plan be prepared across the country, specifying which officer, scientist, institution, or team would visit which village and on which date — all mapped through a dashboard-based monitoring system. Adequate local arrangements and visible coordination at every stage were made non-negotiable conditions for the campaign's success.

He also announced that he would personally visit villages across different states during the campaign and interact directly with farmers. Chouhan added that he had spoken with the Chief Ministers of all states by phone, seeking their active participation in the initiative.

Convergence with Existing Schemes

The campaign is designed to serve as a delivery vehicle for a range of existing Central schemes. Chouhan directed that the benefits of the Kisan Credit Card, Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), Crop Insurance Scheme, Soil Health Cards, Mini Seed Kits, Pulses and Oilseeds Mission, and Agricultural Mechanisation programmes be actively communicated to farmers during outreach visits. This convergence, he said, would simultaneously protect farmlands and strengthen farmer incomes.

Stakeholder Mobilisation

Chouhan underlined that the campaign's success depends on coordinated action by the Centre, state governments, ICAR, agricultural universities, KVKs, public representatives, students, and farmer-support organisations. He specifically called for the involvement of Members of Parliament, legislators, and other elected representatives, urging them to present practical examples of natural farming and sustainable agricultural practices in their constituencies.

He also urged officials and scientists to engage openly with the media, describing the campaign as one that concerns 'the future of the land, agriculture, and the nation's food providers.' As the 30 June deadline approaches, the effectiveness of this push will hinge on whether ground-level coordination matches the scale of the ambition.