Natural farming in India, while gaining momentum, is still at an early stage of adoption. It represents a shift away from chemical-intensive agriculture to sustainable, eco-friendly farming practices. Natural farming methods, such as those advocated by Subhash Palekar’s Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF), focus on using locally available resources like cow dung, urine, and indigenous seeds to cultivate crops without synthetic fertilizers or pesticides.
Progress in Natural Farming
1. Government Support: Initiatives like the Bharatiya Prakritik Krishi Paddhati (BPKP) under the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) aim to promote natural farming across states. Some states, like Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, and Himachal Pradesh, are pioneering efforts to scale natural farming practices.
2. Grassroots Movements: Organizations and individual farmers are driving awareness, sharing success stories, and training others in these sustainable techniques. This has started creating ripples of change, particularly in drought-prone and resource-scarce areas.
3. Environmental Benefits: Natural farming practices enhance soil fertility, conserve water, and improve biodiversity, which aligns with global sustainability goals and climate resilience.
Challenges
1. Knowledge Gap: Many farmers lack access to proper training and scientific validation of natural farming practices.
2. Initial Transition Hurdles: Farmers often face reduced yields during the initial years of transitioning, which can discourage widespread adoption.
3. Market Accessibility: Although there is growing consumer demand for chemical-free produce, reliable market linkages and premium pricing are still limited.
4. Policy and Scale: While the government promotes natural farming, a comprehensive policy framework and incentives to scale these practices are still developing.
The Road Ahead
For natural farming to take deep roots in India, it requires:
Enhanced training and extension services for farmers.
Strong market ecosystems and certification systems for organic and natural produce.
Continued investment in research to validate and optimize natural farming practices.
Community-driven efforts to create awareness and demonstrate the long-term benefits.
Natural farming has the potential to revolutionize agriculture in India, but it requires collective efforts and sustained support to realize its promise fully.
Vijay GarG
Retired principal Educational Columnist Street kour Chand MHR Malout Punjab
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