Col (Dr.) Dhani Ram Shandil, Health and Family Welfare Minister of Himachal Pradesh, inaugurated a new exclusive outlet for natural farming produce at the Dr. YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni. The outlet, branded as ‘UHF Naturals,’ is located within the university’s main campus and will offer over 100 different natural products to consumers.
Col (Dr.) Shandil praised the university’s efforts in establishing a store dedicated to natural farming produce. He was of the view that it is important for any farmer that his agricultural produce gets a good sales platform where gets true value for his produce and this outlet was one such platform. He lauded the modern packaging and the use of technology to ensure that the consumer gets to know whose fields the product any consumer purchases is coming from.
Sustainable Food Systems Platform for Natural Farming (SuSPNF)
UHF Naturals is a result of the Prakritik Kheti Khushhal Kisan Yojana (PK3Y) initiative of the Himachal Government. Under this project, an Innovative Sustainable Food Systems Platform for Natural Farming (SuSPNF) was introduced to create a circular economy for food system transformation. Since 2023, UHF Nauni has been leading the implementation of SuSPNF across various districts in the state. It includes the creation of the Certified Evaluation Tool for Agriculture Resource Analysis – Natural Farming (CETARA-NF), a Digitisation system, designed to connect farmers and consumers. Another key aspect of SuSPNF is the localization of supply chains to address climate change issues such as the carbon footprint of food systems.
The ‘UHF Naturals’ store will operate within a broader framework, providing products from the university’s farm along with Fresh fruits, vegetables, processed food products, cereals, and pulses grown by Natural Farming Farmer Producer Companies (NF FPCs) from across the state.. Available products will also include university’s botanical control solutions, open-pollinated seeds, ready-to-eat products, and ornamental plants, offering diversity to both consumers and natural farmers.
University Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Rajeshwar Singh Chandel explained that the long-term vision includes opening additional retail outlets across Himachal Pradesh to provide locally grown, chemical-free, natural food and create a localized supply and value chain system where the local population has the first right to safe food. He said that this initiative responds to the growing demand from consumers within Himachal for easily accessible natural produce. Plans also include utilizing e-commerce and systems like the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) to modernize marketing efforts for the FPCs.
The Food Systems Transformation plan involves developing three types of infrastructures: institutional, digital, and physical. The government has promoted seven Natural farming FPCs across multiple districts, and CETARA-NF represents a significant digital infrastructure effort. Prof. Chandel also mentioned plans for an online Sustainability Platform that uses e-commerce to connect natural farmers to markets with a focus on traceability and transparency.
The third marketing initiative of PK3Y has already led to the establishment of two functional stores in Solan and Shimla, providing retail market access to the FPCs. The university has a captive consumer base of over 3,500, including students, university staff and general visitors, who can access these natural products. This local market is instrumental in connecting natural farmers through their respective FPCs to consumers.
Moving forward, UHF Naturals plans to generate primary data for sustainability research, which will be digitized and made available through the SuSPNF platform. This data will help measure, benchmark, evaluate, and report the sustainability outcomes of various programs to the government. Additionally, this digitization effort will be extended to other entrepreneurs across Himachal Pradesh, leveraging the strengths of the Natural Farming FPCs.
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