Natural farming
Natural Farming
Natural farming produces natural products which are chemical free and good for health. Presently, in agriculture sector, advanced technology and chemical fertilizers are used to get high productivity. These chemical fertilizers increases productivity but quality of products decreases in comparison to natural farming. Produces yielded from natural farming are very high quality and are full of all natural nutrients. Thus, it is very good for health as well as environment as it is chemical free or organic.
What is Natural Farming
Natural Farming is a method of farming without using chemical fertilizers. This is also known as traditional farming or organic farming method. It is a diversified farming system based on agro-ecology that integrates crops, trees and livestock with functional biodiversity. Natural Farming is largely based on on-farm biomass recycling. This focuses on biomass mulching, use of on-farm cow dung-urine formulations and periodic soil aeration.
Benefits of Natural Farming
Natural Farming is considered as cost-effective farming practices. This provides employment opportunities in the rural areas and helps in rural development. It is a diversified farming system based on agro-ecology that integrates crops, trees and livestock which allow the optimum use of functional biodiversity.
Natural Farming is considered a form of regenerative agriculture which is a prominent strategy to save the planet. This method of farming has many other benefits, such as restoration of soil fertility and environmental health, mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and global warming and curbing pollution. Natural Farming also has potential to manage land practices and sequester carbon from the atmosphere in soils and plants, where it is actually useful.
Obstacles in Natural Farming
Natural Farming is associated with decline in yields which hamper the farmer’s income. An often-cited barrier by farmers in transitioning to Natural Farming is the lack of readily available natural inputs and not every farmer has the time, patience, or labour to develop their own inputs for natural farming.
Measures to Scale up Natural Farming
Bhartiya Prakritik Krishi Paddhati Programme (BPKP) under Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) has been launched by Government of India to promote Natural Farming. The scheme aims to promote traditional indigenous practices which reduce externally purchased inputs.
Another scheme named Sub-mission on AgroForestry (SMAF) aims to encourage farmers to plant multi-purpose trees together with the agriculture crops. This scheme also aims to promote enhanced feedstock to inter alia wood-based and herbal industry which create additional source of income to the farmers. National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) was also launched which aims to develop, demonstrate and disseminate the techniques to make agriculture resilient to adverse impacts of climate change.
Natural Farming: Way Forward
Method of Natural Farming is more popular and can easily be promoted in rainfed regions as these regions use less fertilizers in compared to the areas where irrigation is prevalent. To promote the Natural Farming, government’s crop insurance scheme, PM Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) can be helpful as it will help in risk prevention and farmers will feel assured.
To address the challenge of unavailability of readily available inputs required for natural farming, the promotion of natural farming needs be scaled up at village-level through preparation and sales shops at village level.
Dams were constructed across many of the main rivers and canals were dug out to provide water for the irrigation of the land. Tube-wells and pump-sets were provided to the farmers to irrigate the fields, where canal water could not reach. The use of better seeds, fertilizers and new techniques in agriculture, has brought about a revolution called the Green Revolution in agriculture. Our agriculture produce has increased manifolds, but the progress is still hot sufficient. Our population is growing at a fast rate. Every year we have” millions of new mouths to be feeded. We must check this fast growing population.
In the past irrigation facilities were not sufficient. Farmers depended mainly on rain water for irrigation. Canals and tube-wells were very few. Under the five year plans our Government has built dams on many of the rivers. Bhakra-Nangal Project, Damodar Valley Project, Hirakud Dam, Nagarjuna Sagar Dam, Krishna Sagar Dam and Mettur Dam are some of these dams. Water is stored in big lakes and reservoirs for generating electricity for our industries and agriculture. Water of the dams is being taken by canals to distant lands for irrigation. Tube-wells and pumping sets have been supplied to the farmers. Now more land is irrigated and better crops are produced.
Our land was loosing its fertility being put to cultivation continuously for years together. Cattle dung which is the best form of manure, was being used as fuel. The use of manures and fertilizers helps to restore the fertility of the soil. Our Government has set up fertilizer plants at Nangal, Sindri, Trombay, Gorakhpur, Kamrup and Neyveli. Many new fertilizer factories are being built. Some chemical fertilizers are being imported from other countries. The Government is supplying sufficient fertilizers to the farmers. The use of these “chemical fertilizers has increased our agriculture produce manifolds.
Our farmers were using the primitive methods of agriculture. -For years they have been sowing the seeds produced by themselves. These seeds were not quality seeds and the yield was low. Now high yielding varities from Government farms are being supplied to the farmers. These improved and better seeds have considerably raised our farm produce.
