Organic farming is worse than atom bomb … does not suit Indian conditions, only adds to greenhouse emissions’
July 22, 2019, 2:00 AM IST ,PASHUDHAN PRAHAREE NETWORK
NDA’s stated aim is to double farmers’ income by 2022. A solution proposed in the Union Budget was a “back to basics” approach through “zero budget” farming. Subhash Palekar, the founder of this approach, speaks to Shishir Arya about it:
The government is relying on your method for doubling farmers’ income. How did it happen?
During the 2014 elections Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to double farmers’ income if his party came to power. He was hoping that Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) would come up with some technique by that time, but it did not happen. Niti Aayog then carried out a survey. The team concluded that chemical-based farming is of no use and organic farming has also not yielded any results except causing global warming due to greenhouse emissions that it leads to. They finally got the answer in Subhash Palekar Natural Farming (SPNF).
What happened next?
A day-long meeting was held in New Delhi in February this year. It was attended by Niti Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar, director general of ICAR Trilochan Mohapatra, senior bureaucrats and agriculture secretaries of states. Another meeting was held 15 days before the Budget. Narendra Tomar had taken over as the new agriculture minister by then. They accepted my theory and gave feedback to the PM.
What exactly is zero budget farming?
Let me clarify that it’s not zero budget farming exactly. The movement began in 2000. Since it involved nil cost, it was decided to name it zero budget natural farming. However, the farmers still have to spend towards wages to farmhands, power bills and water charges. Since it was natural farming, many insisted on renaming it SPNF. This happened three months ago.
The core of SPNF is Jeevamrut – a mixture mainly involving cow urine and dung apart from pesticides made from leaves. Can it totally replace chemical fertilisers?
Yes. This can happen in the future though I cannot predict when exactly. I can show you grapes that have grown purely on natural farming. The drought in Vidarbha has dried many orange orchards but those grown under SPNF have survived.
How does it work?
The soil is full of nutrients. Plants also need it in cooked form and this is provided by the microorganisms present in the soil. Jeevamrut is the best source of such microbes. After intense trial and error, I arrived at a conclusion that dung and urine of the local indigenous breed of cow is the best suited ingredient to make Jeevamrut. I tried with that of other animals like buffalo, bulls and even cows of foreign breeds, but none could match that of the local cow. With one cow, enough Jeevamrut can be produced for 30 acres of land. Chemical farming and even traditional manure utilise the carbon naturally available in soil. This leads to initial increase in output which falls as carbon level is depleted.
You have said that SPNF has 50 lakh followers. But The Times of India toured Vidarbha region and only a handful could be found.
That is because we have not opened our network to the media. Those with a spiritual bent of mind would accept it. Spirituality means understanding nature not religion.
What do you expect from government?
I do not expect anything from government. Chemical farming will certainly continue. However what happened in Andhra Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh is indeed a miracle. I got full support from Chandrababu Naidu. Today, five lakh farmers are cultivating by the SPNF method in Andhra. In Himachal, the authorities have decided to convert every inch of land into SPNF. I have got acceptance in Uttarakhand too. Three new states, Karnataka, Kerala and Chhattisgarh, have shown willingness.
Any inquiry from Gujarat?
No other state has shown any willingness for SPNF. Maharashtra’s agriculture minister Anil Bonde had approached me. I told him I would rather meet chief minister Devendra Fadnavis as SPNF will need involvement of other government departments too.
What are your views on organic farming?
Organic farming is worse than atom bomb. None of the organic farming techniques are from India. For example, vermi compost is a British concept, garbage enzyme is Chinese. There are other methods from Japan and Europe too. This does not suit Indian conditions and only adds to greenhouse emissions.
SPNF is based on cows which emit methane, a greenhouse gas. Does banning cow slaughter not add to greenhouse emissions?
The cattle which graze natural grass, roaming freely, do not emit a single gram of methane as against cattle that are fed at a single feed. The emission in foreign breeds is much higher as compared to the local breeds of cows.
DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author’s own.
Courtesy–TIMES OF INDIA
