Impact of Zero Budget Natural Farming on Crop Yields in Andhra Pradesh, SE India

Sarah Duddigan, Chris D. Collins, Zakir Hussain, Henny Osbahr, Liz J. Shaw, Fergus Sinclair, Tom Sizmur, Vijay Thallam and Leigh Ann Winowiecki
Additional contact information
Sarah Duddigan: Soil Research Centre and Department of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6UR, UK
Chris D. Collins: Soil Research Centre and Department of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6UR, UK
Zakir Hussain: Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (RySS), Guntur 522 034, India
Henny Osbahr: International Development Department, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6UR, UK
Liz J. Shaw: Soil Research Centre and Department of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6UR, UK
Fergus Sinclair: World Agroforestry, The International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF), Nairobi 00100, Kenya
Tom Sizmur: Soil Research Centre and Department of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6UR, UK
Vijay Thallam: Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (RySS), Guntur 522 034, India
Leigh Ann Winowiecki: World Agroforestry, The International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF), Nairobi 00100, Kenya

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-13

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.

Keywords: zero budget natural farming; ZBNF; organic farming; conventional agriculture (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/3/1689/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/3/1689/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:3:p:1689-:d:740364

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().