 Online edition of India's National Newspaper Sunday, Aug 31, 2008 ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version |
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Tamil Nadu
Subhash Palekar — Subhash Palekar, a farmer and founder of Zero Budget Farming, says the Government should focus on increasing production. He was in the city recently to talk on revival of traditional farming methods at a meeting organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Coimbatore. He spoke to M. Soundariya Preetha on the need for alternatives to chemical farming. At least a few farmers in every village in Maharashtra and Karnataka now practise zero budget farming. The concept is just beginning to catch on in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. “There is a big change in the outlook of farmers. They are looking for alternatives in farming methods as they are not getting proper productivity and rate in the market,” he says. Farmers are getting the same price they got 20 years ago for the produce. But the cost of production has gone up. The Central Government is losing nearly Rs. 1.2 lakh crore every year towards fertilizer subsidy. By means of chemical farming, the crop is only dwindling. Punjab is the best model for Green Revolution. However, even there the productivity is coming down now and soil is getting barren. “We can stop these losses,” says Mr. Palekar. He started farming immediately after graduation and saw the production going up initially. When it started declining Mr. Palekar approached the universities. “They asked me to increase the inputs. But it did not yield any better result.” Thus, he started the zero budget natural farming method. In this, the farmer just has to have a cow and land. A mix of inputs such as cow dung, pulses, soil, jaggery or coconut oil forms good manure and enriches the soil, he says. “It has no hazardous input, no insecticide and nothing to be purchased from the market.” The Government is facing two main problems on the agricultural front now: It has to stop the farmer suicides and restrict the flow of the Indian wealth towards import of inputs. The country has six lakh villages and 33 crore acres of cultivated land. While the land demand for infrastructure, urbanisation and industrialisation is on the rise, the population is also going up, thus jacking up the demand for food. “The Government should have a vision for the next generation. They are thinking only of today now. It should be our commitment. Otherwise, there will be no soil for food,” he says. The Government should focus on increasing production. Hence, alternative production methods should be adopted, asserts Mr. Palekar.
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