On Friday, while presenting the 2019 Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made a very interesting reference to Zero Budget farming while speaking about the country’s agrarian situation.
On Friday, while presenting the 2019 Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made a very interesting reference to Zero Budget farming while speaking about the country’s agrarian situation.
She said the nation need needed to replicated ‘Zero Budget Farming’ and go back to basics while ‘doubling farmers’ income’.
She said that zero budget farming is already being practised in several states.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN calls zero budget natural farming a ‘set of farming methods that involve zero credit for agriculture and uses no chemical fertilisers’.
It began as a farming movement in Karnataka as a result of a collaboration between agriculturist Subhash Palekar and state the farmers’ association and was replicated by various states.
It aims at pulling farmers out of a debt trap which occurred post liberalisation. Farmers in various states find themselves in debt due to rising costs on account of privatised seed, farm inputs and inaccessible markets.
On the other hand, Zero Budget Natural Farming promises to cut down on farming expenditure, end dependence on loans, encourages one to use their own seeds and locally available natural fertilisers.
ZBNF is built on four pillars and is the brainchild of Palekar who became very disillusioned with the Green Revolution.
In 2018, the government of Andhra Pradesh had launched a scale-out plan to transition six million farmers/farms to cultivate 8 million hectares of land 2024, with a goal to make it India’s first 100% natural farming state.
ZBNF also asks for intercropping, contours and bunds to preserve rain water, to use local earthworms instead of vermicompost and cow dung.
The four pillars of ZNBF (according to Palekar) are -
(With inputs from Food and Agriculture Organisation/UN)
1. Jeevamrutha – a fermented microbial culture
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It provides nutrients, but most importantly, acts as a catalytic agent that promotes the activity of microorganisms in the soil, as well as increases earthworm activity; During the 48 hour fermentation process, the aerobic and anaerobic bacteria present in the cow dung and urine multiply as they eat up organic ingredients (like pulse flour). A handful of undisturbed soil is also added to the preparation, as inoculate of native species of microbes and organisms. Jeevamrutha also helps to prevent fungal and bacterial plant diseases. Palekar suggests that Jeevamrutha is only needed for the first 3 years of the transition, after which the system becomes self-sustaining.
Pic Source: Andhra Pradesh Zero Budget Farming Website (apzbnf.in)
2. Beejamrutha
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Bijamrita/beejamrutha is a treatment used for seeds, seedlings or any planting material. Bijamrita is effective in protecting young roots from fungus as well as from soil-borne and seedborne diseases that commonly affect plants after the monsoon period. It is composed of similar ingredients as jeevamrutha - local cow dung, a powerful natural fungicide, and cow urine, a strong anti-bacterial liquid, lime, soil.
Text: Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
Pic Source: Andhra Pradesh Zero Budget Farming Website (apzbnf.in)
3. Acchadana
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According to Palekar, there are three types of mulching:
a. Soil Mulch: This protects topsoil during cultivation and does not destroy it by tilling. It promotes aeration and water retention in the soil. Palekar suggests avoiding deep ploughing.
b. Straw Mulch: Straw material usually refers to the dried biomass waste of previous crops, but as Palekar suggests, it can be composed of the dead material of any living being (plants, animals, etc). Palekar's approach to soil fertility is very simple – provide dry organic material which will decompose and form humus through the activity of the soil biota which is activated by microbial cultures.
c. Live Mulch (symbiotic intercrops and mixed crops): According to Palekar, it is essential to develop multiple cropping patterns of monocotyledons (monocots; Monocotyledons seedlings have one seed leaf) and dicotyledons (dicots; Dicotyledons seedlings have two seed leaves) grown in the same field, to supply all essential elements to the soil and crops. For instance, legumes are of the dicot group and are nitrogen-fixing plants. Monocots such as rice and wheat supply other elements like potash, phosphate and sulphur.
Text: Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
Pic Source: Andhra Pradesh Zero Budget Farming Website (apzbnf.in)
4. Whapasa - moisture
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Palekar challenges the idea that plant roots need a lot of water, thus countering the over reliance on irrigation in green revolution farming. According to him, what roots need is water vapor. Whapasa is the condition where there are both air molecules and water molecules present in the soil, and he encourages reducing irrigation, irrigating only at noon, in alternate furrows ZBNF farmers report a significant decline in need for irrigation in ZBNF.
Text: Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
Pic Source: Andhra Pradesh Zero Budget Farming Website (apzbnf.in)
