Why in News?

In her Budget proposals for 2024-25, the Union Finance Minister announced that in the next two years, one crore farmers across the country will be initiated into natural farming supported by certification and branding.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• What is Natural, Organic and Zero-Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF)?
• Government Initiatives to Promote Natural Farming in India
• Challenges and Concerns Regarding Natural Farming
• Union Budget 2024-25 Announcements wrt Natural Farming
• Way Forward Ensuring Gradual Adoption of Natural Farming in India

What is Natural, Organic and Zero-Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF)?

• Natural farming and organic farming, both come under agroecological practices (which guides public policies towards sustainable agriculture and food systems) and are terms used interchangeably in India.
• In natural farming the focus is on the use of bio inputs prepared from farm and local ecosystems instead of purchasing those from outside.
  • ZBNF is one of the many methods of natural farming, popularised by agriculturist Subash Palekar.
  • According to the approach, a mixture of natural inputs like cow urine and dung, jaggery, lime, neem, etc., are used to improve soil health, nutrients and reduce input costs.
  • It also restores environmental health and mitigates and/or reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
• Organic farming is defined more from a perspective of product certification. What binds organic and natural farming is the thrust on the absence of application of chemical fertilisers/ pesticides during cultivation.

Government Initiatives to Promote Natural Farming in India:

• Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY):
  • It was launched in 2015, as an extended component of Soil Health Management (SHM) under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS), National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA).
  • PKVY aims at supporting and promoting organic farming, in turn resulting in improvement of soil health.
• Bharatiya Prakritik Krishi Paddhati (BPKP)/ZBNF:
  • It is a sub-scheme of the PKVY and was launched with a total outlay of ₹4,645 crore for six years (2019-20 to 2024-25).
  • It aims at promoting traditional indigenous practices, which give freedom to farmers from externally purchased inputs.
  • Under BPKP, financial assistance of Rs 12200/ha for 3 years is provided for cluster formation, capacity building and continuous hand holding by trained personnel, certification and residue analysis.
  • Its vision is to cover 12 lakh ha in 600 major blocks of 2000 hectares in different states.
• National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF):
  • The Union Agriculture Ministry has been preparing to launch the Mission to motivate farmers to adopt chemical-free farming and draw them towards adopting natural farming willingly on the system’s merit.
  • The success of the NMNF will require a behavioural change in farmers to shift from chemical-based inputs to cow-based, locally-produced inputs.

Challenges and Concerns Regarding Natural Farming:

• Reduction in yields:
  • While Andhra Pradesh emerges as a forerunner in adopting ZBNF with encouraging results, there are concerns about the sustainability and yield (productivity) potential of this farming method.
  • Findings of agro-scientists of the ICAR-IIFSR highlights a 59% decline in wheat yields and a 32% decline in basmati rice yield compared to integrated crop management.
• May adversely impact food supply:
  • Agriculture and food experts have their reservations surrounding a large-scale transition from chemical farming to natural farming in a country like India.
  • This is because it is a challenging task to meet the demands of expanding food needs in a country with a population as huge as India.
• Lessons from Sri Lanka:
  • A couple of years ago, neighbouring Sri Lanka went through economic and political turmoil after it decided to turn completely organic, and banned the import of chemical fertilisers.
  • The government’s policy shift had severe consequences with farmers struggling to get natural fertilisers.
  • They faced a reduction in yields of key crops including rice, putting the country’s food security at risk.
  • A sharp price escalation was witnessed in the country, resulting in huge protests and unrest.

Union Budget 2024-25 Announcements wrt Natural Farming:

• In the next two years, one crore farmers across the country will be initiated into natural farming supported by certification and branding.
  • Its implementation will be through scientific institutions and willing gram panchayats. Besides, 10,000 need-based bio-input resource centres will be established.
• The need for the shift - from targeting the area coverage to number of farmers now - was felt as 30-40% of about 10 lakh farmers re-shifted to chemical farming after 3 years when they received complete financial incentives under the BPKP.

Way Forward Ensuring Gradual Adoption of Natural Farming in India:

• Rigorous scientific tests of natural farming: Especially surrounding the crop yields should be held before its nationwide implementation to allay the fear of potential risk to national food security.
• Natural farming at a localised level: Because, adopting it at a large scale may not be a successful model.
• First, natural farming can be used to grow supplementary foodstuffs: Instead of growing staples like wheat and rice.