In 2016, Mr. SubhashPalekar was awarded India’s fourth highest civilian award, the Padma Shri
for his exemplary efforts to make small scale farming in India sustainable using his indigenously
developed natural technique – Zero Budget Farming…
For several decades now, farmer suicides across India owing to seasonal drought, failed harvest and
rising debts have been a major cause of concern for both the government and society alike. In a
country that is largely agrarian, agriculture as a ‘vocation’ is working out to be an unviable propositionfor many-a-farmers, especially those with smaller land holdings. In the wake of unpredictable monsoonand rising input cost resorting to modern farming techniques (i.e. use of hybrid seeds, chemicalinsecticides and pesticides, drip irrigation, etc.) for optimal water management and higher crop yield isbecoming a costly proposition, invariably leading farmers into debt trap. Just when the entire farmingcommunity is split on the issue of whether or not to look for an alternative vocation, SubhashPalekar’s‘Zero Budget Natural Farming’ (ZBNF) technique has come as a big sigh of relief for many.
In an era where we have been conditioned to habitually look at the West for solutions to our household problems, interestingly the ZBF technique has been develop indigenously using ancient/traditionalIndian farming practices. Its blockbuster success can be gauged from the fact that an estimated100,000 farmers have already switched over to this method in Karnataka alone.
Normally, the ZBF technique delivered to farmers in batches of 300-500 are intense hands-on
learning sessions of 8-hours each and extending over five-days are often supported by local
businesses, NGOs, corporate houses, social/religious institutions, etc.
This technique developed isbased on four main pillars:
- Jivamrita: Use of a fermented microbial culture as nutrient and catalytic agent to promote the
activity of micro-organisms in the soil. Invariably, this fermentation solution is created by use of cow
dung and urine, jaggery, pulse flour and undisturbed soil as a means to inoculate native species of
microbes and organism.
- Bijamrita: A solution developed for treatment of seeds, seedlings and planting material. It is used
mainly for protection of young roots from fungus and soil-borne and seed-borne diseases that
commonly affect plants during monsoon. It is created using cow dung, cow urine, natural fungicide,
a natural anti-bacterial liquid, lime and soil.
- Acchadana-Mulching: This technique uses three type of mulching to facilitate plant growth.
– Soil Mulch: It is done to protect the topsoil during the cultivation and is aimed at limiting the
nutrient damage at the time of tilling. It promotes aeration and water retention levels in the soil.
– Straw Mulch: Dried biomass of the previous crops is added to the soil, which eventually
decomposes and forms humus through the activity of the organisms in the microbial culture
thereby increasing the soil fertility.
– Live Mulch: Harnessing on the advantages of symbiotic intercrops and mixed crops
comprising by planting a mix of monocotyledon and dicotyledon plants to ensure supply all
essential elements to the soil/crops.
- 4. Whapasa (Moisture): Shattering the myth that plant roots need lots of water for healthy growth,
instead ZBF has shown that roots when exposed to adequate amount of water vapour (i.e.
Whapasa) yield good harvest. Hence farmers are recommended to irrigate their farms in the noon
to create optimal Whapasa ecosystem (i.e. a condition where there are both air molecules and
water molecules present in soil), thereby reducing wastage of water.
While Zero Budget Natural Farming doesn’t necessarily imply that farmers do away with any kind of
spending, it assures the farmer that whatever little money that he spends during the course of his
agriculture activities is recovered from the intercropping harvest. Moreover, resorting to ZBNF ensuresthat the farmer takes adequate measures to preserve rain water by resorting land contouring andbunds, maintain high soil fertility through vermicomposting and addition of organic material andmaintain highest concentration of micro-organism in soil through addition of Jivamrita and Bijamrita (i.e.natural fertilizers and insecticides/pesticides).
Considering the long-term and short-term benefits, the farmers are deriving through implementation of ZBNF it is apparent that it is in the best interest of small farmers and the government (State and Union) and corporate houses offer adequate encouragementand support to widespread this movement across India.
-Manoj Mahanta
Team, ScienceNow Digital
