NITI Aayog has called for the scientific validation of zero budget natural farming (ZBNF) through multi-location trials, which it believes can help farmers through cost reduction and yield enhancement.

Scientific validation of ZBNF technology should be undertaken through multi-locational on-the-field trials with farmers by Indian Council of Agricultural Research laboratories and State agriculture universities, NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar told a conference on Monday.

If found to be successful, an enabling institutional mechanism could be set up to promote this technology so that Indian farmers would benefit, he said.

Delivering the keynote address at the conference, Subhas Palekar, the legendary proponent of ZBNF, said soil provides all the nutrients essential for plant growth and that chemical farming was affecting soil health leading to several environmental and health related problems.

“The technique has the potential to reduce the costs of farming effectively to zero and thus help farmers have better income from the field,” Palekar told the gathering, which included Himachal Pradesh Governor Acharya Dev Vrat, Minister of State for Agriculture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and key officials from the agriculture ministry and NITI Aayog.

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