Quantifying the contribution of individual inputs used in Zero Budget Natural Farming
Duddigan, S. L. J. Shaw, T. Sizmur, Z. Hussain, K. Jirra, H. Kaliki, R. Sanka, R. Soma, V. Thallam, H. P. Vattikuti and C. D. Collins. 2024.
Abstract
Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) in Andhra Pradesh promotes home-made,
locally sourced, agrochemical-free inputs and regenerative land management
techniques. Inputs consist of seed treatments (bijamrita), microbial inoculum ap-
plied either as a liquid foliar spray (liquid jiwamrita) or solid top dressing (solid
jiwamrita) to the soil, and mulching (achhadana). However, some farmers do not
use all the recommended inputs. There is a lack of evidence on the effects of par-
tial adoption on the resulting yield and on the contributions of individual inputs
to the performance of the overall approach. Controlled field experiments were
established over two seasons across four agro-climatic zones. They consisted of
five treatments. A Standard ZBNF treatment, which included application of all
four ZBNF amendments (bijamirita, solid jiwamrita, liquid jiwamrita and dead
mulch). The subsequent four treatments excluded one of the ZBNF inputs (Minus
Bijamrita, Minus Soilid Jiwamrita, Minus Liquid Jiwamrita, and Minus Dead
Mulch). Exclusion of each ZBNF input individually resulted in a significantly
smaller yield than the treatment where all four inputs were used. However, exclu-
sion of solid jiwamrita, liquid jiwamrita and mulching had a larger yield penalty
than exclusion of bijamrita. Partial adoption could therfore impact the efficacy
of the ZBNF system to deliver sustainable crop yields and satisfy food security.
However, further research is needed to examine the effects of input exclusion in
the long term, and possible interactions between different ZBNF inputs.
Key Words
bijamrita, jiwamrita, natural farming, organic mulching, zero budget natural farming
