Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan said the Central and the State governments were giving top priority to Zero-Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) and the farmers should make the most of it. He pointed out that chemical fertilizers and pesticides were making food poisonous and a concerted effort should be made to make ZBNF more popular among both farmers and consumers. Participating in an interactive session with farmers who achieved impressive results in ZBNF at Rangannagudem village in Bapulapadu mandal on Sunday, Mr. Harichandan said the governments were providing necessary support under Rashtriya Kisan Vikas Yojana and it was up to the farmers to acquaint themselves with the techniques that basically makes it (ZBNF) environment - friendly. Myneni Ganesh, a progressive natural farmer, told the Governor that the production would be less by about 25% in ZBNF compared to the conventional means but demand was excellent as the produce do not cause any health problems to the consumers.
Impressive returns
As the demand was higher, farmers were able to fetch impressive returns. For instance, a 25-kg bag of ordinary rice could be sold at ₹900 whereas an equal quantity of the commodity grown through ZBNF was being bought for ₹1,300. Besides, the input costs were far lower. Earlier, Mr. Harichandan went around the fields where ZBNF is being practised. Governor’s Secretary Mukesh Kumar Meena, Joint Collector-II Mohan Kumar, ZBNF project district manager Vijaya Kumari and joint director of agriculture Mohan Rao were among those present.
