There is no need for farmers to commit due to debt burden, if they practise ‘zero-budget natural farming’, said Subhash Palekar, organic farming crusader.
Addressing farmers from 17 districts in AP and Telangana at a workshop on his model of farming, Mr Palekar said farmers could cultivate 30 acres profitably using farm yard manure generated by one cow or buffalo. The farmers did not need to invest money on fertilizers and pesticides. They could save 90 per cent of the water and power if they used his method, he said.
Farmers need not fear that their yields would go down because they were not using fertilizers. While there would be no reduction in yield, rather the price of their produce would double because there was a good demand for organic products.
This system of cultivation was sustainable and enriched the land, he said.
“Over seven lakh farmers are practising zero-budget natural farming and there has not been a single suicide,” Mr Palekar claimed.
There was a 90 per cent reduction in the use of water and power. While Coastal Andhra was water surplus, Rayalaseema was water deficit. The water saved in the former could be used to raise crops in Rayalaseema, he said.
Explaining the technicalities, he said that ‘zero-budget natural farming’ was being wrongly labelled as “chemical-free farming” and “livestock-based farming”. Livestock was associated with increase in the emission of greenhouse gases and eventually global warming. But zero budget farming did not contribute to global warming in anyway, he explained.
Minister for Major Irrigation Devineni Umamaheswara Rao said that Mr Palekar had shown that zero budget natural farming was not only scientific, but also practical.
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