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Zero Budget Natural Farming ZBNF

Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) is an agricultural system that aims to address issues facing Indian farmers through chemical-free cultivation. It involves treating seeds and soil with preparations made from cow dung and urine instead of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. ZBNF seeks to make farming financially sustainable by eliminating purchase of inputs and has shown success increasing yields and incomes while improving soils and ecosystems in states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh. The techniques of ZBNF such as composting, water conservation, and use of plant-based pest controls offer advantages for small farmers including reduced costs, higher productivity, and more resilient agricultural systems.

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Aditaya Kumar
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370 views2 pages

Zero Budget Natural Farming ZBNF

Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) is an agricultural system that aims to address issues facing Indian farmers through chemical-free cultivation. It involves treating seeds and soil with preparations made from cow dung and urine instead of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. ZBNF seeks to make farming financially sustainable by eliminating purchase of inputs and has shown success increasing yields and incomes while improving soils and ecosystems in states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh. The techniques of ZBNF such as composting, water conservation, and use of plant-based pest controls offer advantages for small farmers including reduced costs, higher productivity, and more resilient agricultural systems.

Uploaded by

Aditaya Kumar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Insights Mind maps

General Studies-3; Topic – Indian Agriculture

Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF)


1) Introduction
 Across the world, agriculture is facing multiple setbacks, in the form of extreme weather events like
floods and droughts or factors such as soil degradation, soil salinity and water shortage.
 To feed the global population of 9.6 billion by 2050, as projected by a United Nations report, scaling
up food production is important.
 Ensuring food security, producing more with less resources and building the resilience of
smallholder farmers are also important in creating a food-secure future.

2) Background
 The neoliberalization of the Indian economy led to a deep agrarian crisis that made small scale
farming an unviable vocation.
 Privatized seeds, inputs, and markets are inaccessible and expensive for peasants.
 Indian farmers increasingly find themselves in a vicious cycle of debt, high production costs, high
interest rates for credit, and volatile market prices of crops.
 Under such conditions, ‘zero budget’ farming promises to end a reliance on loans and drastically cut
production costs.
 The phrase 'Zero Budget' means without using any credit, and without spending any money on
purchased inputs.
 'Natural farming' means farming with Nature and without chemicals.
 Everything required for the crop comes from nature itself.

3) Need for ZBNF


 Ensuring food security and producing more with less resources.
 For building the resilience of smallholder farmers for creating a food-secure future.
 ZBNF is the right solution to fight climate change and create resilient food systems.
 Fighting drought is one of the main objectives of ZBNF.
 The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN advocates environmentally-friendly farming
methods that can take us to a more sustainable future.
 Importance for chemical free food consumption is growing rapidly.
 Chemical farming has made food a poison and also has reduced the yield by making lands barren.
 Farmers’ welfare and sustainable practices are vital for a sustainable and productive economy.
 ZBNF constitutes an effective strategy for achieving SDGs targets.

4) ZBNF in India
 ZBNF is a set of farming methods, and also a grassroots peasant movement.
 It has attained wide success in southern India, especially the state of Karnataka where it first
evolved.
 Farmers in Andhra Pradesh have practised ZBNF and have witnessed good results.
 Himachal Pradesh Government has launched ZBNF project which aims to increase agriculture
produce and the income of farmers by the year 2022.

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Insights Mind maps

5) Features of ZBNF
 It is a farming practice that believes in natural growth of crops without adding any chemical
fertilizers and pesticides.
 The four wheels of ZBNF are Bijamrita, Jiwamrita, Mulching and Waaphasa.
 Bijamrita is a natural way of seed treatment using local cow urine and cow dung.
 Jiwamrita is made using water, local cow dung, local cow urine, jaggery, dal flour and soil.
 Waaphasa is the aeration in the soil.
 ZBNF is different from organic farming.
 Intercropping is an important feature of ZBNF.
 Practising composting on the farm itself, so that soil organic matter increases.
 Storing water in the farm ponds for use in adverse conditions.
 Insects and pests are managed using neem leaves, neem pulp and green chillies.
 Establishing farmers’ federations and self-help groups, and placing farmers at the forefront of
knowledge creation and dissemination.

6) Advantages
 Besides reduced input cost, farmers practising ZBNF gets higher yields.
 Elimination of chemical pesticides and promotion of good agronomic practices.
 Promote regenerative agriculture, improve soil biodiversity and productivity.
 Ensure decent livelihoods to smallholder farmers.
 Restore ecosystem health through diverse, multi-layered cropping systems.
 Anyone who is having half an acre of land can start ZBNF.
 Using ZBNF techniques, one can convert even the most infertile land into a fertile one.
 Women’s empowerment and nutrition.

7) Conclusion
 Agricultural scientists in India have to rework their strategy so that farming is in consonance with
nature.
 We need a global transition to a more resilient and sustainable agriculture that is less dependent on
agrochemicals and draws more on natural biological and ecosystem processes

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