Context:

India is moving towards wider adoption of zero-budget natural farming (ZBNF).

Zero budget natural farming

• Zero budget natural farming (ZBNF) is a method of chemical-free agriculture drawing from traditional Indian practices.
• It was originally promoted by Maharashtrian agriculturist and Padma Shri recipient Subhash Palekar.
• He developed it in the mid-1990s as an alternative to the Green Revolution’s methods driven by chemical fertilizers and pesticides and intensive irrigation.
• This is a fermented microbial culture that adds nutrients to the soil and acts as a catalytic agent to promote the activity of microorganisms and earthworms in the soil.
• A mixture, called bijamrita, is used to treat seeds.
• The concoctions using neem leaves and pulp, tobacco, and green chillis are prepared for insect and pest management.
• The ZBNF method also promotes soil aeration, minimal watering, intercropping, bunds, and topsoil mulching and discourages intensive irrigation and deep plowing.

The benefits

• Lesser cost of production
• Protect the soil
• Promote traditional methods of cultivation.

Being practiced

Several States, including Andhra Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh, have been aggressively driving a shift towards this model.