{"id":52934,"date":"2019-10-09T19:00:49","date_gmt":"2019-10-09T13:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/?p=52934"},"modified":"2019-10-09T17:29:02","modified_gmt":"2019-10-09T11:59:02","slug":"7-pm-zero-budget-natural-farming-gains-are-unsubstantiated-9th-october-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/7-pm-zero-budget-natural-farming-gains-are-unsubstantiated-9th-october-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"7 PM | Zero Budget Natural Farming: Gains are unsubstantiated | 9th October, 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Context:\n<\/strong>Zero-Budget\nNatural Farming (ZBNF) \u2013 critic to all other forms of agriculture with\nunsubstantiated claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Inorganic\nFarming<\/strong>:\nInorganic farming, more commonly referred to as non-organic farming, is the\ncontrasting method of agriculture to organic farming.&nbsp;Non-organic farming\nuses pesticides, chemicals and synthetic fertilizers to grow produce for human\nand livestock consumption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Organic\nFarming: <\/strong>Organic\nfarming, agricultural system that uses ecologically based pest controls and\nbiological&nbsp;fertilizers&nbsp;derived largely from animal and plant wastes\nand nitrogen-fixing&nbsp;cover crops. Modern organic farming was developed as a\nresponse to the environmental harm caused by the use of chemical&nbsp;pesticides&nbsp;and&nbsp;synthetic&nbsp;fertilizers\nin conventional agriculture, and it has numerous ecological benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>History of agricultural chemistry:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Chemical fertilization began to be used in\nagriculture after the works of Justus von Liebig and Friedrich W\u00f6hler in\norganic chemistry in the 19th century.<\/li><li>In 20th century, after the criticism to\n\u2018chemicalisation\u2019 of agriculture, non-chemical alternatives were proposed.<\/li><li>Examples of specific alternatives\nproposed: Rudolf Steiner\u2019s biodynamics, Masanobu Fukuoka\u2019s one-straw revolution\nand Madagascar\u2019s System of Rice Intensification (SRI).<\/li><li>Indian alternatives to the chemical\nfarming are homoeo-farming, Vedic farming, Natu-eco farming, Agnihotra farming\nand Amrutpani farming.&nbsp;<\/li><li>The most recent one is Zero Budget Natural\nFarming (ZBNF) popularised by Subhash Palekar.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Subhash\nPalekar view about other technologies used in farming: <\/strong>Subhash\nPalekar is a critic to both inorganic and organic farming. His views are as\nfollows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>He calls chemical fertilizers and\npesticides as \u201cdemonic substances\u201d<\/li><li>According to him, cross-bred cows are\n\u201cdemonic species\u201d.<\/li><li>Botechnology and tractors as \u201cdemonic\ntechnologies\u201d. <\/li><li>For him, \u201corganic farming\u201d is \u201cmore\ndangerous than chemical farming\u201d, and \u201cworse than an atom bomb\u201d. <\/li><li>He calls vermicomposting a \u201cscandal\u201d\nand&nbsp;Eiseniafoetida, the red worm used to make vermicompost, as the\n\u201cdestructor beast\u201d. <\/li><li>He also calls Steiner\u2019s biodynamic farming\n\u201cbio-dynamite farming\u201d.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Zero-Budget\nNatural Farming (ZBNF): <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>ZBNF is a holistic alternative to the present paradigm of high-cost chemical inputs-based agriculture. <\/li><li>It is very effective in addressing the uncertainties of climate change. <\/li><li>ZBNF principles are in harmony with the principles of Agroecology. <\/li><li>Its uniqueness is that it is based on the latest scientific discoveries in Agriculture, and, at the same time it is rooted in Indian tradition.\u00a0\u00a0The word \u2018budget\u2019 refers to credit and expenses, thus the phrase &#8216;Zero Budget&#8217; means without using any credit, and without spending any money on purchased inputs. &#8216;Natural farming&#8217; means farming\u00a0with\u00a0Nature and\u00a0without\u00a0chemicals.\u00a0<\/li><li>UN-FAO in April 2018 urged all countries to move towards the adoption of Agroecology to meet the twin goals of global food security and conservation of the environment.<\/li><li>Four wheels of ZBNF: Bijamrit, Jivamrit, Mulching and Waaphasa. <ul><li>Bijamrit is the microbial coating of seeds with formulations of cow urine and cow dung. <\/li><li>Jivamrit is the enhancement of soil microbes using an inoculum of cow dung, cow urine, and jaggery. <\/li><li>Mulching is the covering of soil with crops or crop residues. <\/li><li>Waaphasa is the building up of soil humus to increase soil aeration.\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>ZBNF includes three methods of insect and pest management: Agniastra, Brahmastra and Neemastra.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Criticism\nto the ZBNF claims:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>ZBNF is not zero budget methodology of\nfarming. There are several costs such as cows maintenance cost, paid up cost\nfor electricity and pumps, labour etc.<\/li><li>Lack of independent studies: There are no\nindependent studies to validate the claims that ZBNF plots have a higher yield\nthan non-ZBNF plots.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Indian soils are poor in organic matter\nand several other micronutrients varying as per the type of soil. ZBNF insists\non one blanket solution for all the problems of Indian soils. This cannot solve\nregion specific soil problems.<\/li><li>As per Subhash Palekar, 98.5% of the\nnutrients that plants need are obtained from air, water and sunlight and only\n1.5% is from the soil. Thus, ZBNF takes an irrational position on the nutrient\nrequirements of plants.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Creates cultural chauvinism: The spiritual\nnature of agriculture promoted by ZBNF is baseless and just creates cultural\nchauvinism.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Issues\nwith Indian Soil:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Nitrogen<\/strong>: About\n59% of soils are low in available nitrogen. <\/li><li><strong>Phosphorous:<\/strong> about\n49% are low in available phosphorus.<\/li><li><strong>Potassium<\/strong>: about\n48% are low or medium in available potassium.<\/li><li><strong>Micronutrient\ndeficiency: <\/strong>&nbsp;Indian soils\nare also varyingly deficient in micronutrients, such as zinc, iron, manganese,\ncopper, molybdenum and boron. This decline the fertility of soil.<\/li><li><strong>Salinity<\/strong>: In\nsome regions, soils are saline.<\/li><li><strong>Acidity:<\/strong> In\nsome regions, soils are acidic due to nutrient deficiencies or aluminium,\nmanganese and iron toxicities. <\/li><li><strong>Soil\npollution: <\/strong>In certain other regions, soils are toxic due to heavy\nmetal pollution from industrial and municipal wastes or excessive application\nof fertilizers and pesticides.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Way\nforward:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>There is need for scientific intervention\nin the agriculture to improve the health of soil and thereby sustainably\nimprove fertility and production. \u2018Soil health card\u2019 scheme is a step in right\ndirection in this regard.<\/li><li>There is requirement of innovative\ntechnologies to deal with the wind and water erosion of soils and at the same\ntime checking waterlogging, flooding and crusting.<\/li><li>There is need of location-specific\ninterventions towards balanced fertilisation and integrated nutrient\nmanagement.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source:\n<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/opinion\/lead\/stirring-up-the-truth-about-zbnf\/article29620843.ece\">https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/opinion\/lead\/stirring-up-the-truth-about-zbnf\/article29620843.ece<\/a><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Context: Zero-Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) \u2013 critic to all other forms of agriculture with unsubstantiated claims. Inorganic Farming: Inorganic farming, more commonly referred to as non-organic farming, is the contrasting method of agriculture to organic farming.&nbsp;Non-organic farming uses pesticides, chemicals and synthetic fertilizers to grow produce for human and livestock consumption. Organic Farming: Organic farming,&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/7-pm-zero-budget-natural-farming-gains-are-unsubstantiated-9th-october-2019\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">7 PM | Zero Budget Natural Farming: Gains are unsubstantiated | 9th October, 2019<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":49370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[130,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-7-pm","category-public","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/7-PM.png?fit=1000%2C500&ssl=1","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704911623},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}