National Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF)

In the 20th century, Green Revolution technologies were criticized for the increasing “chemicalisation” of agriculture.
Claims were made that alternative; non-chemical agricultures were possible.
Ex: Organic farming, Rudolf Steiner’s biodynamics, Masanobu Fukuoka’s one-straw revolution and Madagascar’s System of Rice Intensification (SRI).
In India, such alternatives and their variants included, among others, homoeo-farming, Vedic farming, Natu-eco farming, Agnihotra farming and Amrutpani farming and zero budget natural farming.
Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) Pioneered by Subhash Palekar, an innovative farmer from Maharashtra.
The technique replaces fertilizers and pesticides with concoctions of cow dung, cow urine, jaggery and pulse flour, and ensure perfect soil conditions for plant growth.
It does so by keeping the top soil covered with crop residues to increase water retention, coating of seeds with cow dung and urine, concoction made of dung, urine, jaggery and pulse flour to multiply soil microbes, concoction to protect plants from pests etc.
It is hardly zero budgets. Many ingredients of Mr. Palekar’s formulations have to be purchased.
There are no independent studies to validate the claims that ZBNF plots have a higher yield than non-ZBNF plots.
Field trials have recorded a yield shortfall of about 30% in ZBNF plots when compared with non-ZBNF plots.