Over a Million Indian Farmers Moving to Natural Farming: APCNF Wins the 2026 Food Planet Prize

Business Wire India

Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming (APCNF) has been awarded the 2026 Food Planet Prize—the world’s largest environmental award—for its role in leading one of the most ambitious transitions to agroecology ever undertaken. The prize, worth $1.5m, was presented in Båstad, Sweden, on June 2.

The Curt Bergfors Foundation has announced Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming (APCNF) as the winner of the 2026 Food Planet Prize, the world’s largest environmental award. All other finalists—Conscious Kitchen (US), NoPalm Ingredients (NL), and Savanna Institute (US)—received $150,000 in recognition of their work.

What APCNF does and why it matters for food systems transformation

Over the past ten years, 1.8 million farmers in southern India have joined what is now one of the world’s largest transitions to natural agriculture—and the numbers keep growing. Launched by the government of Andhra Pradesh, APCNF works through women’s collectives and a network of over 10,000 farmer trainers to help smallholders abandon synthetic inputs in favor of natural farming practices rooted in soil science and traditional knowledge. Year-round cover cropping and pre-monsoon dry sowing are among the methods being adopted across more than 8,000 villages.

What the prize will unlock

Winning the Prize will let APCNF go even further:

• More demonstration sites for visitors from India and beyond—to show the world what community-managed natural farming actually looks like;
• Country-by-country toolkits for large-scale, locally adapted implementation;
• New research partnerships to keep building the evidence base;
• A natural farming leadership course;
• More support for "farmer scientists"—smallholders trained at an academy to design and document their own field experiments, treating the farmers as legitimate leaders and the farms as sites of agricultural research.

In awarding the Food Planet Prize 2026 to APCNF, Professor Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, co-chair of the Food Planet Prize jury commented:

“APCNF demonstrates how nature-positive farming can be implemented across entire communities and regions, providing a scalable pathway for millions of farmers while simultaneously improving livelihoods, resilience, and environmental outcomes.

While transforming the way food is produced, APCNF has realised measurable reductions in dependence on synthetic agricultural inputs and enhanced resilience to climate shocks, droughts, and economic volatility. Essentially, APCNF shows how the future of agriculture can be built by working with nature rather than against it.”

In response to the award, Hon'ble Chief Minister, Shri. N. Chandrababu Naidu thanked the Jury of the Food Planet Prize team for recognising the 1.8 million-strong APCNF, the world’s largest Natural Farming Programme. “I am delighted that it is a ‘First’ for India. We assure everyone that Andhra Pradesh will not rest here. We would like to make Andhra Pradesh a 100% natural Andhra Pradesh by 2047. Restoring our resources, rejuvenating our farmlands, strengthening farmers’ wellbeing and healing the planet. We would like to support seeding natural farming in other States and outside. Congratulations to our team, farmers and women in this movement.”

The Hon’ble Minister for Agriculture Co-Operation, Marketing, Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development & Fisheries, Sri Kinjarapu Atchannaidu, extended his wishes on conferring the award for the APCNF program. “I congratulate APCNF, our 1.8 million farmers, our community resource persons and our women SHGs. Congratulations to RySS and the Agriculture Department for winning the Food Planet Prize 2026. A landmark recognition for Andhra Pradesh and India's agricultural transformation. Thanks to natural farming, A.P’s 1.8 million farmers are reducing input costs and raising net incomes right from the first Year. Over 10,000 Community Resource Persons, 60% of them women, are driving farmer-to-farmer learning across the state. We are proud that 22 Indian states and two countries, Zambia and Sri Lanka, are actively replicating this model.”

Women's self-help groups played a pivotal role in scaling up the Natural Farming in Andhra Pradesh. D. Chamundeshwari, a smallholder farmer from Vemuru Village, expressed happiness at the global recognition of their efforts. “At a time when farming communities are facing mounting climate and livelihood challenges, the transition to natural farming gave good results thanks to knowledge and skills acquired under the program.”

Sri. Budithi Rajasekhar, IAS (Retd.), Special Chief Secretary to the Government of Andhra Pradesh (Agriculture, Sericulture, Cooperation & Marketing), extended his wishes to the larger farming community of Andhra Pradesh. “I am elated to witness APCNF winning the Food Planet Prize 2026 from Curt Bergfors Foundation. This recognition reflects what becomes possible when government policy, community institutions, and scientific knowledge align behind a common vision. The Government of Andhra Pradesh made a policy choice, 10 years ago to treat natural farming as a state-wide agricultural transformation, backed by Community Resource Persons in every village and the organisational strength of our Women's Self Help Groups. AP would march to be a 100% NF Andhra Pradesh soon.”

“APCNF is honoured to receive the 2026 Food Planet Prize on behalf of 1.8 million farm families, 700,000 farmworker families, and the 340,000 women's self-help groups driving this transformation. We accept this Award for farmers across India who are showing the world a climate-resilient, nature-positive pathway, and we thank the scientists. A special thanks to Honourable Chief Minister Sri Nara Chandrababu Naidu, whose vision made it possible. This recognition strengthens our resolve to scale natural farming to all 6 million farmers of Andhra Pradesh,” says Sri. T. Vijay Kumar, IAS (Retd.) – Executive Vice Chairman, Rythu Sadhikara Samstha, Advisor to Government, Agriculture & Cooperation Department.

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