ZERO BUDGET NATURAL FARMING (ZBNF)

ZERO BUDGET NATURAL FARMING (ZBNF)

TOPIC: Environment

Context- In her budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reaffirmed the Centre’s commitment to natural, chemical-free, organic and zero-budget farming. It is the third time in the last four budget speeches where (zero budget) natural farming finds a mention.

Concept-

Zero Budget Natural Farming:

• Zero budget natural farming is a method of chemical-free agriculture drawing from traditional Indian practices.
• It was originally promoted by agriculturist SubhashPalekar, who developed it in the mid-1990s as an alternative to the Green Revolution’s methods that are driven by chemical fertilizers and pesticides and intensive irrigation. It relies on Agro-ecology.
• It aims to bring down the cost of production to nearly zero and return to a pre-green revolution style of farming.
• ZBNF is based on 4 pillars:
  • Jeevamrita: It is a mixture of fresh cow dung and aged cow urine, jaggery, pulse flour, water and soil; to be applied on farmland.
  • Bijamrita: It is a concoction of neem leaves & pulp, tobacco and green chilies prepared for insect and pest management, that can be used to treat seeds.
  • Mulching: It 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 (aeration). Thereby helping in reducing irrigation requirement.

Sustainable ZBNF in India Requires:

• First, focus on promoting natural farming in rainfed areas beyond the Gangetic basin. Home to half of India’s farmers, rainfed regions use only a third of the fertilisers. The shift to chemical-free farming will be easier in these regions.
• Second, enable automatic enrolment of farmers transitioning to chemical-free farming into the government’s crop insurance scheme, PM FasalBimaYojana (PMFBY) as any transition in agriculture — crop diversification, change in farming practices — adds to the farmer’s risk.
• Third, promote microenterprises that produce inputs for chemical-free agriculture. Not every farmer has the time, patience, or labour to develop their own inputs.
• Fourth, leverage NGOs and champion farmers who have been promoting and practising sustainable agriculture across the country.
• Fifth, beyond evolving the curriculum in agricultural universities, upskill the agriculture extension workers on sustainable agriculture practices.
• Sixth, leverage community institutions for awareness generation, inspiration, and social support. In other words, the government should facilitate an ecosystem in which farmers learn from and support each other while making the transition.
• Seventh, support monitoring and impact studies. Such assessments would ensure an informed approach to scaling up sustainable agriculture.

*For further information please refer to DPN 02 February 2022.