Zero Budget Natural Farming: Curse or Boon

Zero Budget Natural Farming: Curse or Boon India is one of the top countries in cultivation and farming. ​Indian farmers are the backbones of our nation’s economy as the Indian economy is primarily an agriculture-based country. More than 40 years ago, a Japanese farmer upended conventional thinking on agriculture with his path-breaking book, The One-Straw Revolution. In the book published in 1975, Masanobu Fukuoka advocated a return to ​natural farming​, that is, applying the laws of nature to agricultural practices. In India, farmers had practiced natural farming for long till the ​Green Revolution steamrolled their traditional practices and forced them to adopt the modern system of high-cost chemical inputs and hybrid seeds. In India Zero budget natural farming is one such a method of the agriculture sector to return to natural farming. The government of India has been promoting organic farming in the country through the dedicated schemes of Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana since 2015-16 and through Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana.

What is Zero Budget Natural Farming?

Zero Budget Natural Farming is a set of ​farming methods​, and a grassroots peasant movement, which has spread to various states in India. It is a farming practice for the natural growth of crops without adding chemical fertilizers. As per the word Zero Budget to the zero-net cost of production of all crops required. It promises to decrease farming expenditure. It encourages the use of local seeds and natural fertilizers. It is a technique that uses biological pesticides instead of chemical-based fertilizers. Farmers could use earthworms, cow dung, urine, plants, human excreta, and such biological fertilizers for ​crop protection​. It reduces farmers’ investment and protects the soil from degradation.

Who Started Zero Budget Natural Farming in India?

When the Green revolution began to destroy lands and livelihoods, some farmers began their search for a return to alternative systems. One of them was Subhash Palekar of Vidarbha, who had practiced chemical farming till 1986. After several experiments, He met Fukuoka when the Japanese philosopher visited India. They put together a four-step technique of natural farming and promoted it widely across Karnataka as zero budget natural farming.

Four Pillars of Zero Budget Natural Farming​● Jeevamrutha​-

It is a mixture of fresh cow dung and aged cow urine both from India's indigenous cow breed, jaggery, pulse flour, water, and soil. This mixture to be applied to farmland. This is one type of natural fertilizer. ● Bijamrita​It is a mixture of neem leaves pulp, tobacco, and green chilies prepared for insect and pest control. It can be used to treat seeds. Seeds get naturally protected with this treatment. ● Acchadana (Mulching)This method helps to protect the top cover of soil during cultivation and does not destroy it by tilling. This method helps to maintain soil moisture content. ● Whapasa​Whapasa means the condition where the presence of both air molecules and water molecules in the soil. It could help to reduce the extra irrigation requirements.

Benefits of Zero Budget Natural FarmingZero budget natural farming reduces farmers’ initial cost. Automatically farmer’s incomes increase. Soil ecosystem also gets improved. Locally available cow dung is full of nutrient value, which adds soil value. Bacteria present in cow dung helps to decompose the organic matter in soil and make the soil ready for plants. In zero budget natural farming required less water as compared to chemical farming and electricity requirement also less. Zero budget natural farming improves ​soil productivity and reduces the risk of disease attack on the crop. Agriculture Produce quality also gets improved due to a reduction in the use of harmful chemicals.

Disadvantages of Zero Budget Natural farmingThe main disadvantage of this method is due to the misunderstanding among farmers who go by the word. While the method is natural, it does incur a minimum input cost. The cost is in the indirect form of labor for fieldwork and cattle rearing, the input requirement for cattle feed, and its health requirements like vaccinations. Zero budget implies that no direct cost is incurred but there are indirect costs in terms of feed to the cattle, labor and so on which are kept at very minimal cost. Further, we should not forget, ecological changes cannot be done instantaneously.

Zero Budget Natural Farming might be profitable in the long run, but as of now, completely depending on it for profit is not feasible. The best option is to combine chemical-based farming, organic farming, and ZBNF and slowly, over years, reduce the proportion of land under chemical farming.

Conclusion​- In this way Zero budget natural farming has its own advantages and disadvantages for Indian farmers. It is the ​best solution for Indian marginal farmers for farming at low cost with high productivity. For Detail information about agriculture check at ​KhetiGuru​.