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Interested in Natural
Farming? Try Zero
Budget Natural
Farming
Isha Foundations environmental initiative, Project
GreenHands, is organizing an 8-day Natural Farming
Training Program by Mr. Palekar, an expert in natural
farming techniques.

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Nov 26, 2015 | 4 Comments

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Isha Foundations environmental initiative, Project GreenHands (PGH) is

organizing an 8-day Natural Farming Training Program by Mr. Palekar, an
expert in natural farming techniques and is sponsored by SONY India Pvt Ltd. If
you know why natural farming is better than conventional methods and would
like to register for the workshop, skip to the end of this post and download the
form. If youre wondering what all the hoopla about natural farming is, read
on for more context!

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-su ciency, 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.

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

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Orange a poisonous chemical used to clear bushes and nd enemy

hideouts in the Vietnam War is now used in many developing countries
as a herbicide. This is despite the fact that this chemical is suspected to
cause prostate cancer, respiratory cancers, multiple myeloma, type II
diabetes mellitus, Hodgkins disease and many more ailments.

Debt Traps
This system is also mostly partial to famers who are already well o
and have access to nances and irrigation, rather than the small and
marginal farmers or those dependant on rainfall, who make up most of
Indias farming community. Smaller farmers who took loans to a ord
the necessary input costs in terms of pesticides, fertilizers, pump sets
etc. would often end up embroiled in debt if the crop failed.

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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 a ected the
most by extreme weather in 2013.

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 Indias workforce
is engaged in agriculture, it contributes only 14% of Indias GDP.
Indias GDP grew by 7.2% in 2014-15, but agriculture grew by 0.23% [at
2011-12 prices], and foodgrain production fell by 5%.

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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.

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Other indicators also throw light on the worsening situation of farmers

in India. The average size of landholding in India is 1.06 hectares. Even
with irrigation and only 37% of Indias cultivated land is irrigated
it is hard for a family of ve 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 412gm/day in 2005-2006. Foodgrain
availability declined by 4.5 per cent between the two periods of
1991-2000 and 2001-2005. Per capita foodgrain availability in 2002-03
was estimated to be at similar levels to what prevailed just before
World War 2! It is not unusual to nd families whose nutrition levels
are worse o than convicts!
Several important crops have seen a dramatic decline in production.
Take the case of ragi or nger millet, which has been referred to as a
super-cereal with great potential to improve Indias nutrition situation.
In 2013-14 Indias 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

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promotion institute Basix, sums up the problem of farmer distress in

an interview to MoneyControl. 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 farmers very approach to agriculture has also been a ected.
According to Mahajan: By o ering subsidies on various things like
fertiliser, 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
di erent 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 educates farmers in natural farming techniques,
ZBNF involves methods that require no cost input from the farmers
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, one native cow is all one needs to
take up this method of farming on thirty acres of land.

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Mr. Palekar hails from the state of Maharashtra and is fondly called the
Krishi ka Rishi or the farmers sage! He has trained over 4 million
farmers in the last two decades on these sustainable, eco-friendly
farming techniques. He was honoured with the Bharat Krishi Ratna
award and the Basava Shri, which includes the Dalai Lama and Anna
Hazare among its recipients.

How ZBNF Works

Based on his experience with both natural and chemical farming
techniques and his observation of nature, Mr. Palekar designed the
following principles of ZBNF:
Beejamrita,the treatment of 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.
Jeevamrita, which is introduced once a fortnight into the farm to
promote biological activity in the soil and make nutrients
available to the crop.
Mulching with organic residues to reduce tillage, suppress

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weeds, promote humus formation and enhance the soils waterholding capacity.
Mixed cropping and cultivation of diverse species of crops
depending on site-speci c agro-climatic conditions, to bu er
against total failure of a single crop and widen the income
source of farmers.

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

After adopting ZNBF, the sample

farmers acknowledged it was farmerfriendly and nancially viable.
However, during the initial period of
transition to ZBNF, the results will not
be encouraging because of the
lingering e ects 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

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and plant protection

chemicals has been
substantial.

http://isha.sadhguru.org/blog/social-impact/environment/try-zero-budget-n...

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. Some cultivators earned
Rs. 15000 by planting Ashwagandha and Coleus in one acre as an
intercrop with sugarcane.
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.

The ZBNF Training Program

With a vision to build a community of natural farmers, Isha
Foundations environmental initiative, Project GreenHands (PGH) has
organized an 8-day ZBNF Training Program by Mr. Palekar. This
program is structured to train farmers completely in the science of
ZBNF, so they will be capable of practicing these techniques upon
completion.
The 8-day program will empower participants with an insight into:

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Expense-free farming
Farming upto 30 acres with one native cow
Farming with minimum electricity and water consumption
Producing quality, poison-free food
Agriculture without external input
Techniques of multi-crop cultivation for higher net income
Reducing external labour requirement
Farming in tune with nature

The program will be conducted from December 10-17, 2015, in

Palladam, Tamil Nadu and is sponsored by SONY India Pvt Ltd. The
program will be in English with simultaneous translation into Tamil. If
youre interested, download the registration form. Prior registration is
compulsory. For more info, contact info@projectgreenhands.org

Graphs courtesy: CC-BY: factly.in

Never look up to
anyone never look
down on anyone. When
you see all the way they

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are, you shall navigate

life effectively.

Sadhguru
Todays Mystic Quote

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Comments

Keki Unwalla

When is the next

workshop and where?

imaddy5

Can we have workshops for home farming in cities

like Mumbai

Bhagath Kumar Vittal

Please record the Training and Publish in All

Indian Languages through out the Nation _/\_

Ambedkar Podeti

Very good suggestion...I request to ISHA

volunteers to record and post in this
forum...

ISHA
Isha Yoga Programs
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