Natural farming: An emerging agroecological farming practice

Dr Gitasree Goswami

(goswamigitasree@gmail.com)

When we follow nature without destruction, nature takes care of us. With wrong farming practices engaged in agriculture, we turn fertile land into desert. Unless we go back to our Prakritik Krishi Paddhati and save the soil, there is no future in agriculture.

Natural farming comes into India with this slogan to offer a solution to various problems, such as food insecurity, farmers' distress and health problems arising due to pesticide and fertilizer residue in food and water, global warming, climate change and natural calamities. Natural farming is the art, practice and science of working with nature to achieve much more with less. It is a potential agroecological practice that promises to enhance the avenue for farmers' income in addition to many other benefits like environment restoration to mitigate climate change concerns. Also termed 'Do Nothing Farming', because the farmer is considered only to be a facilitator - the real work is done by nature herself. No-tillage and farming without the application of inorganic fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides. Fukuoka started natural farming in Japan, by experimenting with nature and following the natural ways of crop propagation and development. The essence of natural farming is minimizing the external inputs to the farmland, which degenerate the soil's nature.

Zero-Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) is proposed by Mr Subash Palekar, in India, with the same philosophy but with the indigenous supplements. In ZBNF, the soil is supplemented with microbial inoculums like Beejamrutham and Jeevamrutham to accelerate the propagation of soil microflora, beneficial to soil enrichment. Indigenous pesticide decoctions of leaves with cow urine Neemastram and Bramhastram etc. are introduced. The demand for organic food products is on the constant rise worldwide; however, consumers of organic products recently witnessed periodic shortages of organic products. At the same time, organic products are usually 3-4 times more expensive due to higher labour costs, certification costs, handling costs and comparatively lower yields. If a farmer wishes to convert to organic farming, s/he must go through a three-year transition period during which they are required to practice organic farming but not allowed to sell products as organic. With the typically lower yields during this transition period, the conversion process poses a significant financial risk to the farmers. On the other hand, if Natural Farming (NF) gets recognition as chemical-free production practice, farmers can sell their produce as a 'Green Product' from the first year itself at a little premium price. It would help in compensating for the yield loss if any during the initial years.

The study said Natural farming practices could not yield as much as conventional farming, however, when Natural Farming practices were augmented with an even smaller quantity of FYM, it invariably gave better crop yield than those from conventional/ chemical farming.

The Government of India promotes promoting Natural Farming as Bharatiya Prakritik Krishi Paddhati Programme (BPKP) through the schemes of Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) since 2015-16 and Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY).

Under the PKVY scheme, several organic farming methods like zero budget natural farming (ZBNF), natural farming, Vedic farming, Rishi farming, cow farming, home farming, etc., are included wherein states adopt any model of organic farming, including ZBNF depending on the farmers' choice.

Natural Farming (NF), which is considered an agro-ecologically diverse farming practice, brings hosts of ecological and social benefits. It also has the potential to generate employment, thereby stemming the migration of rural youth. Natural farming may not look like yield-enhancing farming practices but increases farmers' income through cost reduction and long-term sustainability. Therefore, we believe that in a developing country like India, natural Farming is the answer to our climate change woe.