GUNTUR: Farmers, software engineers and people from other States are among those being imparted training about Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) techniques, expert Subhash Palekar said on the sixth day of the training on Thursday. Explaining the basics to the trainees, Dr Palekar said what they also need is a detailed explanation about soil fertility — Humus — and its formation.
He further said that humus (organic component of soil triggered by decomposed leaves) is an important ingredient in natural farming. Those farmers, who are in the training programme, should know that earthworms are the best natural moisture and nutrients suppliers to the soil and so was cow dung, which contains many useful species of microorganisms.
As Nitrogen is present more in the air than it is in the soil, Jeevamrutham is applied to the soil, which acts as an inoculum (substance introduced to increase body’s resistance to disease) and activates the soil. The top one-inch layer of soil then stays in that position for nearly 500 years. Valluri Suresh, 30, a farmer who lost both his hands, is among Dr Palekar’s training session. He has been following natural farming for the past two years.