(a) the definition, as per the Government of India, of Zero Budget Natural Farming;
(b) whether Zero Budget Natural Farming can fall under present definitions of “organic farming”, if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the measures taken and planned by the Government to promote Zero Budget Natural Farming?
MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
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(a) & (b): Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) is a chemical free natural farming system wherein use of low cost inputs ( cow dung/ urine and plant extract based ) coupled with recommended agronomic practices like mulching, intercropping are promoted. Organic farming under Paramparagat Vikas Yojana (PKVY) promotes all kinds of chemical free farming systems including ZBNF that benefits soil, environmental and human health.
(c): Government of India has been promoting organic farming for the welfare of farmers through the dedicated scheme of Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) since 2015-16. Under PKVY, flexibility is given to States to adopt any model of organic farming including ZBNF depending on farmers’ choice.
• Under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), States can avail funds for any agriculture development projects including ZBNF with the approval of State Level Sanctioning Committee (SLSC). The States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh have been implementing ZBNF.
• ICAR (Indian Council of Agriculture Research) under Network Project on Organic Farming (NPOF) and All India Coordinated Research Projects (AICRP) on Integrated Farming Systems has initiated an experiment on “Evaluation of zero budget farming practices in basmati rice-wheat system” at Modipuram (Uttar Pradesh), Ludhiana (Punjab), Pantnagar (Uttarakhand) and Kurukshetra (Haryana) from rabi 2017 to study the zero budget farming practices on productivity, economics and soil health including soil organic carbon and soil fertility.
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