Natural Farming: It’s been handed down to us!

The government expects natural farming to help double farmer’s income. While there is familiarity with organic farming, few are aware about the concept of Natural Farming. It comes as a shock to most people when they are told that Organic Farming and Natural Farming are two entirely different techniques in chemical free farming.  While some may have heard of Masanobu Fukuoka and his “do-nothing-farming” philosophy, very few are aware of Natural Farming or “Prakithik Kheti” in the Indian context.  

Natural Farming in India has been practiced since the beginning. Extensive documentation exists in ancient texts like Vriksha Ayurveda, Charaka Samhitha, and eighteen chapters in the Rig Veda that detail how agriculture is to be done.  Except for the last, say 200 years, we had an unbroken record of practicing a system of agriculture that was successful, profitable and most importantly sustainable.

The fundamentals of Natural Farming are based on a very holistic understanding of the plant ecosystem, not just above the soil, but also below the soil.  Modern day research had validated the principles of Natural Farming in no uncertain terms. The ancients had placed all their focus on creating and preserving the vitality or “satva” of the soil.  To them, agriculture was a means of preserving the health of soils and the agricultural produce harvested, was only a by-product of this process. Hence sustainability was integral to the practice of Natural farming.  Understand how different this philosophy is compared to chemical farming, where agricultural yield is the all-consuming focus, and the rampant degradation of soils is the by-product.

Natural Farming is based on the concept of stabilizing the nutrient solubilizing microbes in the soil.  These exist in a symbiotic relationship with the plants, where in exchange for every molecule of nutrient they solubilize for the plant, they are rewarded with a molecule of sugar.  This is what happens in a rain forest where nature grows in abundance without the need for anyone to put urea or spray chemicals. All the plant nutrition is taken care by the soil microbes.

We had an intuitive understanding even though there were no microscopes to observe this plant-microbe interaction. The talk will focus on unraveling the inner secrets of this wonderful technology known in India as “Prakrithik Kheti”.  We will understand the differences between Organic and Natural Farming. We will explore the scientific basis of our ancient farming system. We will explore traditional pest repellents that works well today. The talk will also address the traditional bio-diversity of crop species and stored seeds.