Subhash Palekar's Natural Farming (was: Organic farming consultancy...)

[Manu Sharma]

On Sat, Sep 11, 2010 at 10:40 AM, Sudarshan Kumar <sudarsha...@yahoo.com> wrote:

 

You could contact this company? They are based in Jaipur:
http://www.morarkaorganic.com/

Yes and I suspect you will find that they're extremely expensive. Even all the inputs (bio-fertiliser & organic pesticides) available in the market for organic farming are typically double the price of inputs in non-organic farming. Sure, you get double the price when you sell your produce but there are better ways to farm organically

I recommend learning about Zero Budget Natural Farming method developed by Subhash Palekar. It's a bit revolutionary and spreading very quickly across all states since it's so simple and profitable. 

You could provide training to contract farm workers in the method at workshops organised by Palekar. There's one on 20-21-22 of this month near Nagpur and another in Kanpur around mid October. If you write to me offline, I can give you contact info of Subhash Palekar. 

You'll find Youtube video interviews of Palekar here and his official website here.

While you convert the farm to Palekar's Natural famring, you could simultaneously apply for organic certification. There are several private agencies providing this. 

Thanks,

Manu

[Sudarshan Kumar]

On Sep 11, 11:13 am, Manu Sharma <orangeh...@gmail.com> wrote:

> here <http://palekarzerobudgetnaturalfarming.com/zbnf.html>.

Started going through the site, but I came across such scintillating
pieces of logic that I stopped :)

eg1 (from home page): "But where there is creation, there only one can
exploit. And the creation is in Agriculture only, not in the
industries. Therefore, exploitation can be done in agriculture only."

eg2 (from home page): "Our ancient judiciary system was so prosperous
that the perfect justice was given as they were well known about the
convict. They knew whether the convict is guilty or not, whether he is
virtuous or criminal. Therefore, the justice was given perfectly and
in the village itself."

:claps: Although Shri Palekar's techniques might be sound, the website
could do with some presentational improvements in order to reach a
wider audience.

[M V Bhaskar]

There are some fundamental errors too -

"Neither air sends bill for the nitrogen it supplied ...

Very few plants can absorb Nitrogen from air, though N2 is 78% of
air.
Plants can absorb CO2 from air, though its only 0.04% but not
Nitrogen.
Only a few plants, legumes, and a few phytoplankton, cyanobacteria,
have the ability to fix Nitrogen from air.

That is why usage of manure and urea is necessary.

"If it the ultimate truth that without adding from outside, the plants
grows and give the production."

Unfortunate that people don't do a simple mass balance.
When grain, vegetables and fruits are harvested and transported to
cities for consumption, the nutrients are transported out of the soil.
So these have to be replenished.

The issue is which is the best way to replenish - manure, chemical
fertilizer, compost, etc.

"In the forest, there is no human existence, but, even though the
trees are having enormous fruits. That means nature had supplied all
the nutrients needed for the plant."

Forests are thick with vegetation, because nothing is harvested.
So the nutrients are recycled at the same spot.
This is not possible in a commercial farm, the idea is to FEED people
not to grow corps.
Plants and animals (including human beings) require the same
nutrients.

"Secondly, the cow that gives more milk, its dung and urine is less
effective and which gives less milk, its dung and urine is more
effective."

The problem is that we want both milk and good manure to feed the ever
increasing population.

best regards

Bhaskar


On Sep 11, 7:45 pm, Sudarshan Kumar <sudarshan.kuma...@yahoo.com>
wrote:

[mahesh shelar]

The issue is which is the best way to replenish - manure, chemical fertilizer, compost, etc.

there is a school of thought LEISA low external input sustainable agriculture which advocates sustainable farming but not entirely organic farming practices.They say if need be one can rely on chemical fertilizers. regards   Prof Mahesh Shelar M.Tech Energy Systems Engg Certified Energy Auditor Department of Mechanical Engg KKW Institute of Engg Education and Research NASHIK 9822052351 --- On Sun, 12/9/10, M V Bhaskar <bhaska...@gmail.com> wrote:

-- You received this message because you are subscribed to Green-India to discuss India's Energy Future and Sustainable Living. Green-India http://green-india.in Rules and Disclaimer http://groups.google.com/group/green-india/web To unsubscribe, send email to green-india...@googlegroups.com

[Vishwas Gokhale]

Obviously Mr. Palekar is an indigenous thinker. What he talks is sound
logic. Moreover he has demonstrated that in the field and not in Seminars
through colourful slides.

It would be better to learn his techniques in situ rather than on internet.

Unfortunately that is crux of natural farming.

Vishwas Gokhale

-----Original Message-----
From: green...@googlegroups.com [mailto:green...@googlegroups.com] On
Behalf Of Sudarshan Kumar
Sent: 11 September, 2010 8:16 PM
To: Green-India: India's Energy Future and Sustainable Living
Subject: [Green-India] Re: Subhash Palekar's Natural Farming (was: Organic
farming consultancy...)

> here <http://palekarzerobudgetnaturalfarming.com/zbnf.html>.

--

[vijayakumar ottappath]

Please refer this site : http://vjax.webs.com/  you will get a rough idea about organic farming.

 

Regards,

( wejay )

--
()()()

[bharat agrawal]

In some of the previous topics ....we discussed about biogas and slurry left after it. Now in this technique its saying about using the same cow dung directly.  Now my guess is that instead of using biogas slurry, it would be much better for the soil to use the cow dung directly.  But there is a problem in this.  Methane released directly from cow dung is again harmful to the environment which could have been captured using the biogas plant.  Please correct me if I am wrong.  

Thanks & Regards,

Bharat Agrawal
Globaldata Pvt Ltd, Hyderabad
Mob:- 9705813279
Res:- 079-25626115

[chan...@sancharnet.in]

Cow dung cannot be used directly. Aerobic digestion of cow dung is exothermic reaction and releases lot of heat and results in damaging root zone of the plant and many times killing it. Yes methane release is another issue.
Regards,

Prof. Ajay Chandak.

[vijayakumar ottappath]

Methane release is not much as in bio gas production, but it is a valuable product which can be utilised if we produce bio-gas. While producingbio-gas no netrient is loosing in processwhich is helpfull to plant, as methane is nothing but carbon and hydrogen.

 

Regards,

(vijayakumar ottappath)

[Manu Sharma]

It appears from previous comments in this thread that most members have not understood Subhash Palekar's Zero Budget Natural farming method (with one exception of Vishwas Gokhle who I presume actually spent time to go through the linked content). 

Here I respond to some of the points that came up earlier.

• To focus on select quotes on the website while ignoring the fundamental innovation, is like missing the forest for the trees. Here is the concise version:  
  
  
• Palekar has developed a method of farming that frees farmers of their reliance on harmful chemical fertilisers and pesticides as well as expensive inputs employed under organic farming.  
  
  
• He argues that no farm ever needs any fertiliser as the essential nutrients are abundantly available in any rich soil.  
  
  
• These nutrients however, are present in "non-available form" and need to be converted to "available form" by the use of a culture that acts as a catalyst for the conversion.  
  
  
• This culture can be prepared using materials abundantly available at almost any farm in India thereby requiring no additional purchase.   
   
• Once applied to the soil, it creates a wealth of micro organisms in the soil that break down the organic matter present to create humus, the backbone of rich soil.  
  
  
• Palekar also advises use of organic pesticides which too can be prepared on the farm without any purchase from outside. 
  
  
• This method of cultivation is currently being successfully applied across thousands of acres in India and is quickly spreading.  
  
  
• Contact information of farmers using this in different states is available. No charges are levied for learning about this method, for farm visits and no workshop / seminar idea is used for commercial gain by the practitioners and promoters of this method.   
  
  
• A point was raised that the ever increasing population requires farm resources that cannot be diverted for this method. Nothing could be further from the truth as this method actual preserves resources. According to Palekar's calculations, one cow can sufficiently provide enough resources for farming 30 acres of land. As majority of Indian farmers are small time land owners with only a few acres of land on average, they actually have surplus resources.  
  
  
• It was mentioned that this method suggests direct application of cow dung to crops. This is absolutely incorrect and comes from the perspective of seeing cow dung as manure. Cow dung is not being used here as manure but as a catalytic agent to spur growth of micro organisms in soil. 

• This catalytic agent is applied after considerable dilution of cow dung based culture. Therefore it follows that there is absolutely no possibility of any exothermic reaction and any harm being caused to crops. 

• As to methane release, it's not an issue as only one day's worth of cow dung is used for one acre of agriculture land in a month. The other 29 days, it's available for methane capture. Further, buffaloes are not used and nor are imported breeds of cows which can be dedicated to biogas generation (along with milk production) only. 

• Moreover as this method requires agricultural waste not to be burned after cultivation and to be used in the soil, it actually makes the farm a carbon sink. Further, almost all fertilizers and pesticides are fossil fuel products therefore organic method of cultivation has always been a recommended solution for agriculture based emissions. There's plethora of research on this.

In conclusion, as I said in the beginning of this thread, this is actually quite a revolutionary method of cultivation.

Manu