The central government is pushing for inclusion of Zero-Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) in agriculture curriculum in various universities across the country. ZBNF will be promoted at undergraduate and postgraduate levels through natural farming curriculum. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also announced this in the Union Budget 2022 speech delivered on 1 February.
The government is aiming to promote natural farming under the Indian Natural Farming System (BPKP), a sub-scheme of the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY). The PKVY scheme and BPKP sub-scheme were brought into implementable form after a two day national level consultation program organized by NITI Aayog on 29th and 30th September 2020.
Natural farming is an agricultural method that prefers the practice of using the laws of nature to do farming. Natural farming is a process of development that does not involve the use of chemical and organic fertilizers and focuses only on the natural fertilizers already present in the soil. The method of natural farming was devised by a Japanese farmer named Masanobu Fukuoka. Fukuoka introduced the concept in his 1975 book The One-Straw Revolution.
In India, the concept was brought to fruition by Subhash Palekar, an agriculturist based in Maharashtra and awarded the Padma Shri award. Palekar developed public awareness of this method in the mid-1990s as an alternative to the methods of the Green Revolution, which dominated the use of external chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
The zero-budget natural farming method involves the use of the soil’s natural fertilizing capabilities, with little help provided by natural inputs to the soil such as jeevamrut – a mixture of cow dung, cow urine, lentil flour and jaggery – and beejamrut – A mixture containing neem leaves, green chillies and tobacco.
- How will this become part of the curriculum in universities?
At the National Summit on Agriculture and Food Processing, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed and introduced this method in the general discourse on December 16, 2021. PM Modi described the method as a “promising tool” to improve farming in the country and farmers. Agriculture is driving the bandwagon.
Following suit, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) issued a circular to various central and state universities to promote natural farming by including the method in the agricultural curriculum practiced in the institutes. The apex body catalyzed the discussion, following which, on February 1, FM Sitharaman addressed the initiative in her budget speech. “States will be encouraged to revise the curriculum of agricultural universities to meet the needs of natural, zero-budget and organic farming, modern agriculture, value addition and management,” FM Sitharaman said.
As decided by the central government, programs offered by universities in the areas of agriculture will include topics on zero-budget natural farming, and the new, updated curriculum will be active from the upcoming academic year.
Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar said in a written statement to the Rajya Sabha, “ICAR has constituted a committee to develop the curriculum and curriculum of natural farming at undergraduate and postgraduate level.” IANS
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