Abstract
It has been claimed that Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF), a burgeoning practice of farming in India based on low-inputs and influenced by agro-ecological principles, has the potential to improve farm viability and food security. However, there is concern that the success of the social movement fueling the adoption of ZBNF has become out of step with the science underpinning its performance relative to other farming systems. Based on twenty field plot experiments established across six districts in Andhra Pradesh (SE India), managed by locally based farmer researchers, we present the first ‘on the ground’ assessment of ZBNF performance. We show that there is no short-term yield penalty when adopting ZBNF in small scale farming systems compared to conventional and organic alternatives. In terms of treatment response, we observed differences between agro-climatic zones, but in this initial evaluation we cannot recommend specific options tuned to these different contexts.
Highlights
Received: 17 December 2021Feeding a projected population of 9 billion by the mid-century constitutes one of the most fundamental challenges facing humanity [1,2]
Their occupations ranged from researchers early growth stage; (b) at harvest of Experiments were managed by locally based Natural Farming Fellows (NFFs) and the crops selected for each experiment reflected local practise
The ‘chemical free’ parallels in organic farming and Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) have called into question whether replacing intensive conventional farming with ZBNF will provide enough food to meet the growing requirements of the large and growing Indian population [23,24]
Summary
Received: 17 December 2021Feeding a projected population of 9 billion by the mid-century constitutes one of the most fundamental challenges facing humanity [1,2]. Agricultural production more than tripled between 1960 and 2015 [1]. This was initially facilitated, in part, by Green Revolution technologies to increase yields, and profits, compared to traditional techniques [3,4,5]. More environmentally focused solutions have arisen, such as sustainable intensification and agroecology. Such solutions have been promoted as alternative approaches to agricultural production that align more closely to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) [12,13]
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