Natural Farming Practices for Chemical-Free Agriculture: Implications for Crop Yield and Profitability

Ranjit Kumar, Sanjiv Kumar (), Yashavanth Bs, Nakeertha Venu, Meena Pc, A Dhandapani and Alok Kumar
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Ranjit Kumar: ICAR-National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, Hyderabad 500030, India
Sanjiv Kumar: ICAR-National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, Hyderabad 500030, India
Yashavanth Bs: ICAR-National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, Hyderabad 500030, India
Nakeertha Venu: ICAR-National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, Hyderabad 500030, India
Meena Pc: ICAR-National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, Hyderabad 500030, India
A Dhandapani: ICAR-National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, Hyderabad 500030, India
Alok Kumar: ICAR-National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, Hyderabad 500030, India

Agriculture, 2023, vol. 13, issue 3, 1-16

Abstract: The “Green Revolution” (GR) technology-induced agricultural intensification has transformed India from food scarcity to a food surplus country. However, this has also resulted into several adverse repercussions. Increased application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides with stagnating/declining crop productivity has dovetailed with uncertain market conditions and climate change effects which has resulted in un-remunerative agriculture. Consequently, farmers have fallen into the debt trap due to the rising cost of crop production apart from health hazards due to serious exposure to harmful chemical pesticides. Natural Farming (NF), an agro-ecological approach to farming is believed to be an effective way to counter some of these challenges. The present paper presents field-level farmers’ experiences of NF adoption in three states of India—Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Maharashtra. The study was conducted during February–March 2019 by surveying 295 NF adopted and 170 non-NF adopted farmers. It was found that NF practice has been followed by some farmers for more than 10 years but others have adopted during the recent past. There is variation in the practice followed by the NF farmers. There are farmers who are using Farm Yard Manure (FYM). A solid form of jeevamritha (liquid concoction of microbial inoculants) called as ghanajeevamritha was also found to be used by farmers in Andhra Pradesh. It was observed that non-NF yields are superior to NF yield without FYM. In most crops, however, NF with FYM had a greater yield than NF without FYM and non-NF farms. There has been a decrease in the variable cost and a marginal increase in the market price of NF produce. The study suggests that natural farming may be seen as one of the alternative practices which has potential to rejuvenate the agro-ecosystem, besides cost saving for the individual farmers.

Keywords: natural farming; zero budget natural farming; green revolution; agroecology; low-input; chemical-free farming (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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