BENGALURU: Zero-budget natural farming (ZBNF) pioneer Subhash Palekar has questioned why the state government is pursuing Israel’s farm technology when ZBNF is the better option.
Palekar, a Padma Sri recipient, is in the city to conduct a two-day workshop -- Back to Nature -- where he will discuss sustainable living, ways to practice ZBNF and forming consumer groups to collaborate with ZBNF farmers.
Palekar said Israel’s model had failed in the USA. “The Israel method claims to save 60 per cent water by using drip irrigation. But through ZBNF, we can save 90 per cent water compared to chemical farming,” he said. Palekar added that Israel has sandy soil which does not have water retaining capacity, which is different from the Indian soil with a high retention capacity.
Incidentally, on Friday, Agriculture Minister N H Shivashankar Reddy, Horticulture Minister M C Managuli and Agriculture Department secretary Maheshwar Rao were in Israel to study the country’s farming model. In Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s budget,`300 crore was allotted to adopt Israeli technology in several districts, while `50 crore was allotted to implement ZBNF.
Palekar said following a recent meeting with Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar, agriculture officials and scientists, it was decided to push for ZBNF in all states. He said around 7 lakh farmer suicides per year were reported in India, and not even one of them practised ZBNF.
Terrace farming
IT professional Sapna Subramani has been practising terrace farming for four years. After attending Palekar’s workshop two years ago, she switched to his model of natural farming, wherein she prepared the fertiliser herself, used local seeds and did not use any chemicals. “My plants are healthier now, and my produce accounts for 90 per cent of the vegetables used at home to feed a family of four,” she said.