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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Alternative agriculture: Natural farming's time has come, seize the moment -PVS Suryakumar

Alternative agriculture: Natural farming's time has come, seize the moment -PVS Suryakumar

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published Published on Sep 26, 2019   modified Modified on Sep 26, 2019
-The Indian Express

Consumers today are willing to pay for organic produce. What is required is a policy framework to enable farmers to cater to this market.

A few months back, I was at an artisanal products exhibition, where there was a stall showcasing organic leather bags. A buyer marvelled: “Wow, we have organic leather too?” The stall-person’s response was, “Sir, this is from animals that were fed only natural grass and organic oil-cakes when alive”.

One may call the above a marketing stunt or even exploitation of sentiment, but the point is consumers, including in India, are increasingly looking for food and non-food agricultural products that are free of chemicals. There are versions of farming without chemicals: From Rudolf Steiner’s Biodynamic Agriculture, Masanobu Fukuoka’s One Straw Revolution and Miguel Altieri’s Agro-ecology, to the latest Subhash Palekar’s Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF). All have a common philosophy — farming based on using natural inputs, treating the soil as a living entity, promoting biological diversity and protecting the health of our ecosystem. These will, in turn, reflect on human wellbeing and the food that we eat.

Palekar’s ZBNF runs on four “wheels”: Jiwamrita (a microbial culture of dung and urine from indigenous cow species, jaggery, pulses flour, bund soil and water), Bijamrita (a seed treatment solution with almost the same ingredients), Mulching (covering the topsoil with dried leaves and straw for moisture conservation and proper aeration) and Waaphasa (providing water outside the plant’s canopy). These four elements will ensure that the crop receives enough nutrients through the action of living microorganisms in the soil, in addition to the water, carbon dioxide, nitrogen and solar energy for photosynthesis that come “free” from the monsoon rains, air and sun. ZBNF also advocates insect and pest management through decoction sprays of Agniastra, Bramhastra and Neemastra, which are made using desi cow urine, tobacco and leaves/pulp of neem, datura, garlic, papaya and pomegranate.

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The Indian Express, 26 September, 2019, https://indianexpress.com/article/india/alternative-agriculture-natural-farmings-time-has-come-seize-the-moment-6029192/


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