Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: ZBNF

Mains level: Natural farming practices and their sustainability

Zero budget natural farming (ZBNF) is back on top of the Government’s agricultural agenda, with PM set to highlight it at a national conclave.

ZBNF is a set of farming methods, and also a grassroots peasant movement, which has spread to various states in India.
Subhash Palekar perfected it during the 1990s at his farm in Amravati district in Maharashtra’s drought-prone Vidarbha region.
According to the “zero budget” concept, farmers won’t have to spend any money on fertilisers and other agricultural inputs.
Over 98% of the nutrients that crops require — carbon dioxide, nitrogen, water, solar energy — are already present in nature.
The remaining 1.5-2% are taken from the soil, after microorganisms convert them from “non-

The “four wheels” of ZBNF are ‘Jiwamrita’, ‘Bijamrita’, ‘Mulching’ and ‘Waaphasa’.

Jiwamrita is a fermented mixture of cow dung and urine (of desi breeds), jaggery, pulses flour, water and soil from the farm bund.
This isn’t a fertilizer, but just a source of some 500 crore micro-organisms that can convert all the necessary “non-available” nutrients into “available” form.
Bijamrita is a mix of desi cow dung and urine, water, bund soil and lime that is used as a seed treatment solution prior to sowing.
Mulching, or covering the plants with a layer of dried straw or fallen leaves, is meant to conserve soil moisture and keep the temperature around the roots at 25-32 degrees Celsius, which allows the microorganisms to do their job.
Waaphasa, or providing water to maintain the required moisture-air balance, also achieves the same objective.

ZBNF advocates the use of special ‘Agniastra’, ‘Bramhastra’, and ‘Neemastra’ concoctions.
They are based on cow urine and dung, plus pulp from leaves of neem, white datura, papaya, guava, and pomegranates — for controlling pest and disease attacks.

Cost of labor: The cost of labor for the collection of dung and urine, apart from the other inputs used in the preparation of Jiwamrita, Neemastra or Bramhastra is quit higher.
Bovine cost: Keeping cows is also a cost that has to be accounted for. Farmers cannot afford to keep desi cows that yield very little milk.
Vulnerability to pest attacks: ZBNF is scarcely practiced. The crop grown would be vulnerable to attacks by insects and pests have already become pest-immune.