NEED OF THE HOUR - ZERO BUDEGET NATURAL FARMING(ZBNF):
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THE IMPORTANCE AND NECESSITY OF ZERO BUDGET NATURAL FARMING IN THE CONTEXT OF PRESENT INDIAN AGRICULTURE
About Mr. Subhash Palekar:
Mr. Palekar is an agricultural scientist and a model farmer hails from the state of Maharashtra and is fondly called the “Krishi ka Rishi” or the farmer’s sage! In the year 2016 in recognition of his work and the impact was creating the government of India was honored Mr. Subhash Palekar, the inventor of ZBNF with the prestigious award Padmashri who also made history for being the first active farmer to receive this award.
He also honored with Bharat Krishi Ratna and the Basava Shri Awards, which includes the Dalai Lama and Anna Hazare among its recipients. He has trained over 10 million farmers in the last two decades on these sustainable, eco-friendly farming techniques and result reveals that no suicide happened with “Zero Budget Natural Farming” (ZBNF) practicing farmers. Palekar’s Zero Budget Natural Farming has undoubtedly made an indelible mark on farming in India.
Subhas Palekar worked in the state government for some time and then he switched to his own farming and experimented and evolved the technical package for “Zero Budget Natural Farming”.He is imparting knowledge to farmers throughout India by means of continuous workshops, seminars and field level trainings. He also penned books in Marathi, Hindi, English, Kannada, Telugu and Tamil languages.
More than 50 lakh farmers across the country have benefitted greatly from Palekar’s teachings and his method of natural farming. Palekar spends 25 days a month sharing his knowledge of farming through seminar, lectures, workshops and field visits. Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala have also requested him to spend ten days a month in their states, in order to help their farmers develop healthy farming habits.
Palekar’s Philosophy:
According to Mr. Subhas Palekar the farmers who are passing through serious problems due to various factors and chemical farming can be brought out by adopting ZBNF. His philosophy is simple and he says that in forests, there are enormous fruits to the big trees of Mango, Ber, Tamarind, Jamulum, Custard Apple, Neem, and Moha every year in famine also without human assistance. He conducted research and came to the conclusion that there is a self developing, self nourishing and totally self reliant natural system in the forest, by which all the vegetation and ecosystem existed without any human effort. He studied that natural system and verified those natural processes of the forest on his farm for six years from1989 to1995. Thus he evolved “Zero Budget Natural Farming”.
The State of Indian Agriculture:
Today, the Indian agriculture sector has come to be dominated by the model pushed through during the Green Revolution in the 1960s. While there are many aspects to the Green Revolution, one major factor was the move away from self-sufficiency, towards increased inputs into a piece of farmland through irrigation, pesticides, fertilizers and hybrid seeds that could not consistently breed well from generation to generation.
The agricultural economy in the country is in a crisis. The farmers are not getting remunerative prices on one hand and the cost of in-puts is galloping, resulting in their indebtedness. It in turn is pushing the farmers in helpless state. The suicides among the hapless farmers are on the increase. Due to various dynamics and abnormal situations today the farmer is caught in a vicious circle.
Death by Pesticide:
While the country as a whole experienced an increase in yields and total production for certain crops such as wheat and rice after the implementation of these schemes, there were many problems associated with the model. It was not very sustainable or ecologically friendly. For example, pesticide consumption in our country increased from 2330 tons in 1950 to 198,000 tons in 1997-98, drastically increasing the prevalence of these chemicals in the food chain. It is notable that many of the pesticides were manufactured in USA and Europe, where ammunition manufacturing units were converted to fertilizer and pesticide manufacturing plants. For instance, “Agent Orange” a poisonous chemical used to clear bushes and find enemy hideouts in the Vietnam War is now used in many developing countries as an herbicide. This is despite the fact that this chemical is suspected to cause prostate cancer, respiratory cancers, multiple myeloma, type II diabetes mellitus, Hodgkin’s disease and many more ailments.
Debt Traps:
This system is also mostly partial to farmers who are already well off and have access to finances and irrigation, rather than the small and marginal farmers or those dependant on rainfall, who make up most of India’s farming community. Smaller farmers who took loans to afford the necessary input costs in terms of pesticides, fertilizers, pump sets etc. would often end up embroiled in debt if the crop failed.
Besides these issues, policy decisions encouraged farmers to focus mainly on a few crops, rather than maintain diversity in agricultural productivity. The agricultural sector also began a largely disorganized attempt to move from subsistence farming to cash cropping, which created its own set of problems. And lately, climate change and extreme weather events have only added to the havoc. According to the Global Climate Risk Index, India is one of three countries affected the most by extreme weather and happening series of natural disasters and ever increasing input costs is forcing Indian farmers towards suicidal attempts.
Farmers in Distress:
The net result is a deadly combination of debt, crop failures, suicides, poverty and migration to urban areas that have drastically curtailed the quality of rural lives. For example, though 55-60% of India’s workforce is engaged in agriculture, it contributes only 14% of India’s GDP. India’s GDP grew by 7.2% in 2014-15, but agriculture grew by 0.23% [at 2011-12 prices], and food grain production fell by 5%.
National Crime Records Bureau records show that at least, 284,694 Indian farmers have taken their lives since 1995. That means on average, a farmer has committed suicide every 30 minutes.
Other indicators also throw light on the worsening situation of farmers in India. The average size of land holding in India is 1.06 hectares. Even with irrigation – and only 37% of India’s cultivated land is irrigated – it is hard for a family of five to live well on such small holdings, unless crop yields are increased drastically at no cost to the farmer.
In fact, the per capita consumption of cereals declined by 13% from 468 gm/day in 1990-1991 to 412 gm/day in 2005-2006. Food grain availability declined by 4.5 per cent between the two periods of 1991-2000 and 2001-2005. Per capita food grain availability in 2002-03 was estimated to be at similar levels to what prevailed just before World War 2! It is not unusual to find families whose nutrition levels are worse off than convicts!
Several important crops have seen a dramatic decline in production. Take the case of ragi or finger millet, which has been referred to as a super-cereal with great potential to improve India’s nutrition situation. In 2013-14 India’s ragi production stood at 90,000 tonnes or just 5% of 1998-99 levels!
Many experts have voiced concern that persisting with this model of chemical agriculture is counter-productive in the long run and can cause irreparable damage. Vijay Mahajan, founder of livelihood promotion institute Basix, sums up the problem of farmer distress in an interview to Money Control. According to him, farmer distress has been increasing in general, year-on-year, mainly due to the reduction in per capita land availability and the breakdown of support structures such as ground water depletion, silted canals, spurious seeds and erratic electricity supply.
The farmer’s very approach to agriculture has also been affected. According to Mahajan: “By offering subsidies on various things like fertilizer, water, electricity, credit, what has happened is that the proud and self-reliant Indian farmer has been made into someone who is constantly expecting some doles.” What is needed he points out is a different approach to helping farmers out of this vicious cycle.
The Solution - Zero Budget Natural Farming:
This is where initiatives like Zero-Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) come in. Begun by Subhash Palekar, an agricultural scientist who promotes and actively educate farmers in natural farming techniques, ZBNF involves methods that require no cost input from the farmer’s side in terms of pesticides, fertilizers or even irrigation. Natural methods are used to retain and improve soil health, control pests and increase yields. A farmer will also be able to produce his own seed and natural fertilizers are created using cow dung, cow urine and other materials.
According to Mr. Palekar the chemical farming which involves spraying of pesticides and use of fertilizers is not only financially burdening the farmers, but also wreaking havoc on the soil, ruining the health of the people and wasting water. He says natural farming which envisages zero-budget agriculture practices is a better option than even organic farming. Several farmers, who have taken up natural farming, are doing well in contrast to those depending on chemical farming using hazardous fertilizers & pesticides.
He attributed the increasing number of suicides by farmers to their dependency on fertilizers which take away a huge portion of their earnings, rendering them indebted to money lenders. There was not a single example of farmers practicing zero-budget farming committing suicide, due to higher yield and low cost input. Zero-budget agriculture entails no external chemical inputs like fertilizers or insecticides. According to Mr. Palekar, one native cow is all one needs to take up this method of farming on thirty acres of land.
The study says chemical farming methods are yielding low crop when compare with the zero-budget farming method. The country’s food output cannot be doubled through chemically-intensive agriculture methods or even conventional organic agriculture. Only zero-budget farming can meet the country’s food requirements. Despite the obvious advantages of alternative methods, not many farmers were switching over to it due to government policies which link all credit, marketing and insurance facilities to chemical-based agricultural practices.
How ZBNF Works:
Basically, natural farming aims at cultivating crops by promoting self-reliance of farmers while protecting the environment and stimulating harmony between humans, animals and plants for a sustainable development. The fundamental principle underlying natural farming is that every thing is connected to everything else on earth as every function is served by many elements and every element has many functions. The relative placement of elements is thus an important key to the success of this method and requires a minutely detailed observation of nature in order to recreate in the fields the same kind of symbiosis, of interactivity between the plants.
Based on his experience with both natural and chemical farming techniques and his observation of nature, Mr. Palekar designed the following four principles of ZBNF:
1. Zero Budget Natural Farming:
The production cost for the farmer is zero as no input needs to be purchased. As 1.5 to 2.0 % of the nutrients are taken from the soil by the plant (the rest is taken from the air, water and solar energy), there is no need to add fertilizers. These nutrients provided by nature (as in the forest) are totally free of cost. The farmer uses its own seeds and protects the crop with natural products that he collects himself so that he does not have to buy either chemicals or seeds.
As a zero cost technique, natural farming is an appropriate answer to the current agriculture crisis and particularly to farmers’ great indebtedness and dependence on money lenders, that increasingly leads too many of them to commit suicide.
2. Natural Inputs:
Natural farming does not require chemical inputs or organic compost like vermiculture (Palekar considers these external inputs as destructive as chemicals) but promotes a natural catalyst of biological activity in the soil and natural protection from diseases.
The nutrients (Nitrogen, Phosphate, Potash, Iron, Sulphur, and Calcium) which are present in the soil are not in an available form for the plants. They first need to be transformed through the action of micro-organisms (bacteria, microbes and local earthworms) that are normally present in the soil as well. But, the excessive use of chemicals destroyed these micro-organisms.
It is thus necessary to reintroduce them through natural methods like application of local cow dung which, according to Palekar, contains 3 to 5 millions of such beneficial microbes. His researches show that local cow dung (zebu) is the most effective compare to foreign cows (Jersey, Holstein). Only one cow is needed to cultivate 30 acres of lands (most Indian farmers own less than 1 acre) as one cow gives about 11 kilograms of dung per day and as only ten kilograms of local cow dung is required per month to cultivate one acre of land.
Jeevamrita:
Observing nature, S.Palekar thus developed a natural “catalytic agent” known as Jivamrit to promote the formation of humus in the soil by encouraging the multiplication of micro-organisms that decompose the dried biomass of the soil and make it available as nutrients for the plants. The components of jivamrit are entirely natural: water, local cow dung, local cow urine, jaggery (sugarcane sugar), pulse’s floor and soil. It is introduced to apply once a fortnight into the farm to promote biological activity in the soil and make nutrients available to the crop.
Beejamrita:
On the same pattern, he designed a seeds treatment formula to protect them from various diseases and insects, without using any pesticides: bijamrita is a natural mixture of water, local cow dung, local cow urine, soil and lime. It is used to treat the seeds, seedlings or any planting material with a natural concoction to protect the crop from harmful soil borne and seed borne pathogens during the initial stages of growth.
Other Natural Inputs:
Other mixtures are also used to manage insects and pests (natural pesticides and fungicides) using tobacco, green chili, garlic, neem and various fruits such as custard apple, guava, lantena camellia, papaya, white dhotara, pomegranate etc.
These natural catalysts, protections and treatments ensure the quality of the soil, the underground water and the crops. Preventing any deterioration or pollution of the environment and maintaining the productivity at a very good level on the long term, natural farming can thus be equated with sustainable agriculture.
Mulching:
Mulching is also one of Zero Budget Natural Farming’s four wheels. It is necessary to create the micro-climate under which micro-organisms can best develop, that is 25 to 32 °C temperature, 65 to 72 % moisture and darkness and warmth in the soil. Mulching indeed conserves humidity of the soil (therefore diminishing the need for irrigation), cools it and protects its micro-organisms. Mulching with organic residues to reduce tillage, suppress weeds, promote humus formation and enhance the soil’s water-holding capacity.
Mixed Crops:
Intercropping, multi cropping or mixed cropping, as opposed to mono-cropping which has been imposed by industrial and mechanized agriculture is the cultivation of two or more crops in proximity in the same field, during a growing season, to promote interaction between them. It is based on the assertion that there are complementarities between plants. Natural farming enhances the use of the soil and its nutrients through this complementarily between the crops.
For example, one could mix long life-span species (like chikoo, coconut, and mango) with short life-span species (like various vegetables, leguminous, medicinal and aromatic plants) and medium life-span species (like banana, papaya, custard apple). The diversification of crops has to be decided according to the area and agro-climatic conditions.
Multi cropping is a good way to minimize the risks for the farmer who is able to enjoy continuity of yield throughout the year. In case of a crop’s failure he can also rely on the other crops. Other advantages of intercropping include the limitation of outbreaks of crop pests (some plants act as natural pesticides against other crops’ pests) while rotation protects against endemic pests; the protection of biodiversity; a better and richer nutrition.
The scope of enhancing the income level of the farmers is possible through mixed cropping and cultivation of diverse species of crops depending on site-specific and agro-climatic conditions to buffer against total failure of a single or mono crop.
Beneficiaries of Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF):
Natural farming focuses mainly on small communities and family settlements to which it ensures livelihood and self-reliance. It prevents small farmers of being dependent on and exploited by firms and multi-national corporations that dominate the agricultural market of chemical inputs and seeds.
An assessment study conducted with farmers from Karnataka who switched over natural farming after attending Subhash Palekar’s workshops shows that the model is effective and the benefits for the farmers are tremendous. As the author of the study states: “The system of zero budgets natural farming is eminently suited to the farmers particularly small and marginal farmers because of its simplicity, adoptability and drastic cuts in cost of cultivation of crops. The appeal to the farming community lies in the fact that maintaining optimum levels of production and keeping the cost of cultivation to the bare minimum will substantially enlarge the profit margin.”
From an economic perspective, natural farming has proved more cost effective and input efficient than industrial farming as the farmers spend practically no money on inputs. For example, they would spend only Rs. 100-200 for one acre of paddy whereas they used to spend Rs. 3000 while practicing chemical farming.
Natural farming is particularly suitable to small farmers who own only a few acres of land and do not have financial resources. Following the stagnation or even downfall in crops’ productivity in farms using modern technologies and tonnes of pesticides and fertilizers, natural farming proves to be more productive on a sustainable way. It actually ensures every farmer its livelihood. Whereas chemical farming turned to be a subsistence agriculture for small farmers, as the profits made from the sale of crops would not be sufficient to repay the loans raised to produce these crops, zero budget natural farming enables the famers to increase their returns. For instance the productivity of Basmati rice is about 24 quintals per acre through natural farming, against about 10 quintals in chemical farming.
Moreover, it requires only 10 per cent water and 10 per cent electricity than what is used under chemical and organic farming. Apart from being therefore less costly than modern farming, it is also adapted to the dry land areas that comprise 70% of the cultivable land in India and that have been completely neglected by the Green Revolution and the Government policies.
Natural farming also means diversification and increase of income sources by growing and selling different types of cereals, vegetables, legumes, fruits and even medicinal plants thanks to multi cropping and low cost cultivation. For example, a farmer in Karnataka could ensure an additional income of Rs.15, 000 by cultivating ashwaganda, a medicinal plant, as intercrop with sugarcane.
Last but not least diversification of crops through natural farming provides nutritional balance and helps overcoming malnutrition which is rampant in Indian, especially in rural areas. Natural farming also free farmers, their family and neighbors from health hazards which were due to contamination by chemicals of the soil and groundwater.
In the last analysis, natural farming works as a rehabilitation for small scale farmers. It brings them back their dignity, pride, self-respect and self-confidence in their own knowledge and capabilities in making small scale agriculture a viable activity and way of life. Natural farmers emerge as the real experts in sustainable agriculture.
Following the destructive consequences of industrial agriculture and as Indian population is expected to double by 2050; there is an urgent need to increase food production in a sustainable manner in India. Alternatives such as natural farming, which respects both nature and human beings, are an appropriate answer to this double challenge.
Farmers’ Experiences with ZBNF:
The Administrative Training Institute in Mysore has conducted a study on the feasibility of ZNBF and how it has helped farmers in Karnataka who adopted it. In its report, it states that before they adopted ZNBF, farmers found that conventional cultivation methods were very cost-intensive. By farmers’ own estimates, the cost of cultivation of one acre of paddy was Rs.5000-6000, that of sugarcane Rs. 15000-20000, and of banana Rs. 25000-30000.
All the farmers selected for the study agreed that switching over to the new method from chemical agriculture paid good dividends. Savings on the cost of seeds, fertilizers and plant protection chemicals has been substantial.
After adopting ZNBF, the sample farmers acknowledged it was farmer-friendly and financially viable. However, during the initial period of transition to ZBNF, the results will not be encouraging because of the lingering effects of chemical farming. The results will become evident only after adequate mulching and restoration of biological activity in the soil. Patience and perseverance are required, they said.
Treatment with Beejamrita and Jeevamrita was extremely encouraging in successful cultivation. Beejamrita was noted to give adequate protection to crops from insects and diseases during the initial stages of germination and establishment. Mortality in case of treated crops was negligible.
Mulching promotes humus formation, suppresses weeds and greatly reduces the water requirement of crops. Live mulching particularly with leguminous crops is a subsidiary source of income and also a safeguard against depletion of nutrients by crops.
Mixed cropping particularly with short duration legumes, vegetables and even medicinal plants has expanded farmers’ income sources. Vegetables rich in vitamins and minerals are generally marketed after adequately providing for home consumption.
All the farmers selected for the study agreed that switching over to the new method from chemical agriculture paid good dividends. Savings on the cost of seeds, fertilizers and plant protection chemicals has been substantial. Almost all the farmers have stopped borrowing crop loans. Crop yields have been optimal with possibly no decline in future, because of continuous incorporation of organic residues and replenishment of soil fertility.
ZBNF with Indian Native Cows:
Cow dung from local cows has proven to be a miraculous cure to revive the fertility and nutrient value of soil. One gram of cow dung is believed to have anywhere ranging between 300-500 crore beneficial micro-organisms. These micro-organisms decompose the dried biomass on the soil and convert it into ready-to-use nutrients for plants.
Over 6 Years of Research by Palekar Reveals:
1. Only dung from native Indian cows is effective on the soil. Dung from Jersey and Holstein cows is not as effective. If any farmer facing trouble in sourcing of dung from local cows, they may use dung from bullocks or buffaloes.
2. Dung and urine of the black colored Kapila cow is believed to be the most effective.
3. To get the most of the cow dung and urine, ensure that the dung is as fresh as possible and that the urine is as old as possible.
4. An acre of land requires 10 kilograms of local cow dung per month. Since the average cow gives 11 kilograms of dung a day, dung from one cow can help to fertilize 30 acres of land.
5. Urine, jaggery and decoct flour can be used as additives.
6. The lesser milk the cow gives, the more beneficial its dung is towards reviving the soil.
About Native Indian Cows:
The living sages of India teach us a wisdom that cannot be taught by our universities and the priceless culture of our country disseminate from them. The clarion call for saving the Indian breed of cattle has been given by these sages. Today due to various factors the holy sacred Indian Cows are becoming extinct and they are in severe threat which helps us in many ways. Hence, it is of paramount importance that we enlist ourselves in this mission to “Preserve the Native Breeds of our Indian Cattle” in the interest of the people and planet.
Native Cows are the only species in this world whose products and by-products are created for the economic, social and spiritual betterment of human beings in many ways since ages. Our ancient scriptures have extolled their inherent virtues and bestowed the status of a Universal Mother upon the Cow. In India bulls are restricted for limited uses such as for tilling of agriculture fields and as a means of transport, where the cows are useful in agricultural activities, sacred sanctity in religious context, A2 milk, food, healthcare and socio-economic development.
The Indian breeds of cows are a crucial part of the country’s ecological heritage. In the past, these breeds were developed in different parts of the subcontinent by selecting the best animals for their preferred traits such as milking capacity, draught power, feeding requirements, capacity to adapt to local weather, immunity etc. The purity of such breeds was maintained with great discipline and wisdom in each breeding tract.
However, since the sixties, in a bid to increase the production of cow milk, the Indian Government has resorted to “cross-breeding” by using foreign bulls and semen. How damaging this has been is evident from the gradual extinction of our low-maintenance, superior and enduring variety of native breed of cows. Instead, we are now confronted with the progressive creation of expensive hybrids that require air-conditioned stalls, costly feed and medical care.
For the past periods we have neglected the caring for the sacred Indian cows due to various factors and dynamics. Now the time has come to revive the ancient reverence for cattle as being nature’s gift to humanity and to promote the ancient system of living and working along-side these bovine creatures by educating the common man about the importance of our native Indian cattle, their special characteristics, the superior quality of milk of the native breeds, the medicinal properties of their products and by-products and their immense role in the welfare of humans due to their potential to enhance man’s physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well-being.
Community based Cow Hostels:
Today the individual farmers are unable to maintain the cows due to their economic status and different factors. There is need of the hour to promote community based cow hostels or cow colonies linked with community based fodder banks at village level involving the passing out veterinary doctors, agriculture graduates and the local communities to protect, preserve and to multiply the Indian native cow breeds which are becoming extinct due to various socio-economic issues and changing life styles of both the rural and urban communities. If the current situation of the Indian farmers continues further the highly populated country like India has to pass through the severe food shortage issues very near future. So let’s take a firm step to revive the age old practices of agriculture and life style as mentioned in Vedas.
It is very much possible if both the governments and the people come together with unified efforts towards revival of our age old Indian heritage and treasure of holy native cows to support suffering farmers by spreading awareness on the sacred importance, commercial aspects, socio-economic advantages and sharing knowledge on zero budget natural farming concepts using various cow based value added products such as bio fertilizers and bio pesticides. The people also have to be educated about the importance of sacred sanctity, socio-economic advantages, commercial aspects and health advantages of native cow milk, cow urine, cow dung and their value added products.
The community based cow hostels linked with fodder banks can be set up at village level basing on the agricultural fields available in each village @ 30 acres / per cow in the available community lands, temple lands or lands taken on lease from a local farmer to fulfill the zero budget natural farming (ZBNF) activities and there is scope for cottage industries to manufacture various value added products using cow milk, urine and dung including supply of a healthy A2 milk. Through this effort there is lot of scope for employment to the educated unemployed youth, sustainable livelihoods to the local people, possibility for revival of age old natural farming concepts and scope for creating a healthy society. So let’s all sections of people and the governments decide and dedicate in promoting these sacred treasure houses of community cow hostels in interest of the people and planet.
Organic Food:
With all the unified efforts of all sections of people and the governments we can achieve the goal of providing 100% residue free organic food through zero budget natural farming. Let’s decide and dedicate towards promotion of sustainable agriculture concepts using zero budget natural farming methods to the people which will help in creating disease free healthy and wealthy society.
Conclusion:
As discussed above the Indian farmers are in a dangerous state and they are in the process of winding up of agriculture and shifting towards new avenues and activities for their livelihoods due to non viability of existing agriculture practices, ever increasing costs and climate crisis. At this juncture the governments and people have to be with the farmers by providing them the cost effective technologies and zero budget natural farming methods on sustainable mode. The centers of excellence at district level can be set up to create awareness on commercial aspects and socio-economic advantages of zero budget natural farming methods. The village level community based native cow hostels or cow colonies attached with fodder banks would be one of the major solutions to achieve the goal of sustainable agriculture practices.
Once the village level community based cow hostels are established there would be great scope to help farmers in practicing zero budget natural farming concepts which will improve their economic status. In addition to the farmers direct benefit there will be lot of scope for employment through various cow based value added products manufacturing and marketing. By all this efforts the people can avoid chemical food and they get 100% residue free organic food for healthy living on a cost effective mode if every farmer in this country start practicing zero budget natural farming methods. Let’s join together and put collective efforts in achieving the goal in interest of the people and planet on the lines make in India.
Adam S. Adam
President /Executive Director of Farmers Development…
Sandesh Dalvi
Project Analyst at Sharekhan
Yatheesh R Thubgere
Vice President-Sales & Business Development at…
Rikhi Ram Thakur
National Head Marketing & Sales at Sheel…
Kannan K
ASSISTANT MANAGER (R&D/Nursery production) at AVANTHA…