Shifting Focus Towards Natural Farming | 25 Nov 2022

To feed the growing population, it is estimated that food production will need to increase by 60% by 2050. This increasing food demand is promoting farmers worldwide to increase crop production, which builds pressure on the environment and exceeds its carrying capacity to repair or replace itself, leading to its serious degradation.

‘Natural Farming’ Is suggested as a neoteric approach to improve both traditional and modern agricultural practices, which aims to safeguard the environment, public health, and communities. It has the potential to enable food production without compromising the needs of future generations.

What is the Significance of Natural Farming?

• Ensures Better Health: As Natural Farming does not use any synthetic chemicals; health risks and hazards are eliminated. The food has higher nutrition density and therefore offers better health benefits.
• Increased Farmers’ Income: Natural Farming aims to make farming viable and aspirational by increasing net incomes of farmers on account of cost reduction, reduced risks, similar yields, incomes from intercropping.
• Rejuvenates Soil Health: The most immediate impact of Natural Farming is on the biology of soil—on microbes and other living organisms such as earthworms. It improves soil health and in turn increase productivity.
• Minimized Cost of Production: Natural Farming aims to drastically cut down production costs by encouraging farmers to prepare essential biological inputs using on-farm, natural and home-grown resources.

What are the Major Challenges Related to Farming in India?

• Per Drop More Crop: Only 52 % of India's Gross Cropped Area (GCA) is irrigated at the national level. Even though India has made significant strides since independence, many farms still rely on the monsoon for irrigation, limiting their ability to plant more crops.
• Lack of Readily Availability of Natural Inputs: Farmers often cite the lack of readily available natural inputs as a barrier to converting to chemical-free agriculture. Not every farmer has the time, patience, or labour to develop their own natural inputs.
• Lack of Crop Diversification: In spite of the rapid commercialization of agriculture in India, most farmers assume cereals will always be their main crop (due to skewed Minimum Support Prices in favour of cereals) and ignore crop diversification.
• Decline in Yields: Sikkim, the first organic state in India has seen some yield declines following conversion to organic farming. Many farmers have switched back to conventional farming after seeing their ZBNF ( Zero-Budget Natural Farming) returns drop.

What Should be the Way Forward?

• Women’s Participation in Natural Farming: Studies have indicated that there is a direct correlation between women’s control over agricultural resources as a primary producer and the socio-economic characteristics of their household.
  • Since women mostly cook for their families, they understand the importance of natural products to nurture and nourish their children. As a result, women are likely to adopt natural farming sooner than men.
    • Women’s Participation in Natural Farming will increase their involvement in decision-making. It would also positively impact the health and nutritional status of the family.
• Integrating Traditional and Frontier Technologies: Rainwater harvesting and recycling of organic waste for plant nutrient, pest management, etc., are examples of traditional technologies that can be used to complement frontier technologies like tissue culture, genetic engineering, to achieve higher productivity.
• Knowledge-Intensive Agriculture: India is known for its diversity of farming practices, making it important to involve diverse perspectives in a national agricultural dialogue to find suitable solutions.
  • A smart and precise move towards high-tech farming balanced with a naturalistic approach will increase farmers' incomes and many other issues of scale will be addressed.
• Enterprising Natural Inputs for Farming: Microenterprises that produce inputs for chemical-free agriculture shall be provided support from the government to address the challenge of unavailability of readily available natural inputs.
  • The promotion of natural farming needs to be combined with the setting up of village-level input preparation and sales shops.
• Towards Mimic Natural Ecosystem: Developing mutually reinforcing relationships between agricultural productivity and conservation of nature is necessary.
  • There can be modifications made to farming systems in order to make it a mimic natural ecosystem. Ecological and economically useful trees, shrubs and perennial grasses can be integrated into farms in ways that mimic the natural vegetative structure.