Natural Farming

Natural Farming is a set of farming methods, that uses no chemical fertilizers with indigenous seeds and methods.

Zero Budget Natural Farming: A set of farming methods, that involve zero credit for agriculture and uses no chemical fertilizers.

ZBNF is built on four pillars and is the brainchild of Palekar who became very disillusioned with the Green Revolution.

1. Jeevamrutha: It is a mixture of fresh cow dung and aged cow urine (both from India's indigenous cow breed), jaggery, pulse flour, water and soil; to be applied on farmland.

2. Bijamrita / Beejamirta: It is composed of similar ingredients as jeevamrutha - local cow dung, a powerful natural fungicide, and cow urine, a strong anti-bacterial liquid, lime that can be used to treat seeds.

3. Acchadana (Mulching): It protects topsoil during cultivation and does not destroy it by tilling.

4. Whapasa: 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. It is the condition where there are both air molecules and water molecules present in the soil. Thereby helping in reducing irrigation requirement.

Links:

1. https://apcnf.in/

2. www.dnaindia.com/business/photo-gallery-no-chemical-fertilisers-no-cripping-loans-what-exactly-is-zero-budget-farming-2768579

3. https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/zero-budget-natural-farming