The push for Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF)

ENVIRONMENT/ ECONOMY/ GOVERNANCE

• GS-3: Indian Economy and challenges
• GS-3: Major crops-cropping patterns in various parts of the country, – different types of irrigation and irrigation systems
• GS-2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation. 

The push for Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF)

Context: Zero budget natural farming (ZBNF) is back on top of the Government’s agricultural agenda, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi set to highlight it at a national conclave in Gujarat.

• The Centre has sanctioned support for converting four lakh additional hectares of crop land in eight States to using ZBNF techniques this year. This is meant to provide a showcase for their benefits although scientific studies on the method have not yet been completed.

What is it and how did it come about? 

• Zero budget natural farming is a method of chemical-free agriculture drawing from traditional Indian practices. 
• It was originally promoted by agriculturist and Padma Shri recipient Subhash Palekar, who developed it in the mid-1990s as an alternative to the Green Revolution’s methods driven by chemical fertilizers, pesticides and intensive irrigation. 
• He argued that the rising cost of these external inputs was a leading cause of indebtedness and suicide among farmers, while the impact of chemicals on the environment and on long-term fertility was devastating. 
• Without the need to spend money on these inputs — or take loans to buy them — the cost of production could be reduced and farming made into a “zero budget” exercise, breaking the debt cycle for many small farmers. 
• The “four wheels” of ZBNF are ‘Jiwamrita’, ‘Bijamrita’, ‘Mulching’ and ‘Waaphasa’, says Palekar

What are the advantages of Zero Budget Natural Farming?

• Promotes Better agronomic practices: The ZBNF method promotes soil aeration, minimal watering, intercropping, bunds and topsoil mulching and discourages intensive irrigation and deep ploughing.
• Small Farmer Friendly: As both a social and environmental programme, it aims to ensure that farming – particularly smallholder farming – is economically viable by enhancing farm biodiversity and ecosystem services.
• Reduces Cost to Farmers: Through eliminating external inputs and using in-situ resources to rejuvenate soils, the farmers cost is reduced whilst simultaneously increasing incomes, and restoring ecosystem health through diverse, multi-layered cropping systems.
• Efficient use of Cow dung: 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 between 300 to 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.
• Environment Friendly: Zero budget natural farming requires only 10 per cent water and 10 per cent electricity than what is required under chemical and organic farming. ZBNF may improve the potential of crops to adapt to and be produced for evolving climatic conditions.

Is it effective? 

• A limited 2017 study in Andhra Pradesh claimed a sharp decline in input costs and improvement in yields. 
• However, reports also suggest that many farmers, including from Mr. Palekar’s native Maharashtra, have reverted to conventional farming after seeing their ZBNF returns drop after a few years, in turn raising doubts about the method’s efficacy in increasing farmers’ incomes. 
• ZBNF critics, including some experts within the central policy and planning think tank NITI Aayog, note that India needed the Green Revolution in order to become self-sufficient and ensure food security. 
• Critics warn against a wholesale move away from that model without sufficient proof that yields will not be affected. 
• Sikkim, which has seen some decline in yields following a conversion to organic farming, is used as a cautionary tale regarding the pitfalls of abandoning chemical fertilizers. 
• In 2019, soon after Prime Minister praised ZBNF while addressing a United Nations conference on desertification, the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences wrote to Mr. Modi warning against promoting the method without sufficient research to assess its long-term impact. 

Which are the States with big plans? 

• The Centre has sanctioned the proposals of eight States for support under the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana scheme this year. 
• Andhra Pradesh has the biggest ambition to bring one lakh additional hectares of land under ZBNF under the scheme, followed by Chhattisgarh, with 85,000 additional hectares and Gujarat, with 71,000 additional hectares.
• Government has said the proposals being implemented under the scheme would be used to showcase the benefits of the method. 

What lies ahead? 

• The Prime Minister is set to promote ZBNF’s benefits and provide more details on the strategies to implement it at valedictory session of a three-day national summit on agro and food processing, with a focus on natural farming, which is being held in Anand, Gujarat. Over 5,000 farmers are expected to be present in person.
• So far as scientific validation is concerned, all eyes are focussed on the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, which is conducting studies on the ZBNF methods practised by basmati and wheat farmers in Modipuram (Uttar Pradesh), Ludhiana (Punjab), Pantnagar (Uttarakhand) and Kurukshetra (Haryana), evaluating the impact on productivity, economics and soil health including soil organic carbon and soil fertility. 
• The Agriculture Secretary said such studies needed at least three years to arrive at a conclusion. 

Connecting the dots:

• Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana scheme
• Srilankan Economic Crisis due to forced Organic Farming