ZERO BUDGET NATURAL FARMING
Debt is a problem for farmers of all sizes in India. Privatized seeds, inputs, and markets are inaccessible and expensive for peasants, making small scale farming an unviable vocation. Under such conditions, ‘zero budget’ farming promises to end a reliance on loans and drastically cut production costs, ending the debt cycle for desperate farmers.
What is ZBNF?
Budget- refers to credit and expenses, thus the phrase ‘Zero Budget’ means without using any credit, and without spending any money on purchased inputs.
‘Natural farming‘ means farming with Nature and without chemicals.
- Zero budget natural farming (ZBNF) is a method of chemical-free agriculture drawing from traditional Indian practices.
- It was originally promoted by an agriculturist and Padma Shri recipient Subhash Palekar, who developed it in the mid-1990s as an alternative to the Green Revolution’s methods driven by chemical fertilizers and pesticides along with intensive irrigation.
- The movement in Karnataka state was born out of collaboration between Subhash Palekar and the state farmers association Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS). It has attained wide success in southern India, especially the southern Indian state of Karnataka where it first evolved.
- Palekar argued that the rising cost of these external inputs was a leading cause of indebtedness and suicide among farmers; on the other hand, impact of chemicals on the environment and on long-term fertility was devastating. Under such conditions, ‘zero budget’ farming promises to end a reliance on loans and drastically cut production costs, ending the debt cycle for desperate farmers.
- ZBNF promotes the application of 4- products-
Jeevamrutha– It is a mixture of fresh desi cow dung and aged desi cow urine, jaggery, pulse flour, water and soil on farmland. This is a fermented microbial culture that adds nutrients to the soil, and acts as a catalytic agent to promote the activity of microorganisms and earthworms in the soil. About 200 litres of jeevamrutha should be sprayed twice a month per acre of land; after three years, the system is supposed to become self-sustaining. Only one cow is needed for 30 acres of land. He said that it must be a local Indian breed not an imported Jersey or Holstein.
Bijamrita- It is mixture of neem leaves and pulp, tobacco and green chillis prepared for insect and pest management. It is also used for seed treatment.
Acchadana (Mulching) – Mulching protects topsoil during cultivation and does not destroy it by tilling.
Whapasa– It is the condition where there are both air molecules and water molecules present in the soil helps in reducing irrigation - According to him, ZBNF method also promotes soil aeration, minimal watering, intercropping, topsoil mulching and discourages intensive irrigation and deep ploughing.
- Palekar is against vermicomposting, which is the component of organic farming, as it introduces the most common composting worm, the European red wiggler to Indian soils. He claims these worms absorb toxic metals and poison groundwater and soil.
Whether effective or not?
A limited 2017 study in Andhra Pradesh claimed a sharp decline in input costs and improvement in yields. However, many farmers, including in Mr. Palekar’s native Maharashtra, have reverted to conventional farming after seeing their ZBNF returns drop after a few years, in turn raising doubts about the method’s efficacy in increasing farmers’ incomes.
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NATURAL FARMING- DIFFERENT FORMS