Zero Budget Natural Farming

Zero budget natural farming is also helping Krishappa Gowda save 90% water and get high yields throughout the year.

"My gardeners handed me a packet of seeds with the warning: Treated with poisonous chemicals. Do not consume directly. If these seeds were growing vegetables inside my house, how can we be sure about the food we buy from a store?"

Desai runs 'Krishiyog' - an online portal for connecting marginalised natural farmers to conscious urban consumers, thus increasing their average income by 30%-40%

Apart from producing 100 per cent naturally-grown and ripened mangoes that have found patrons across Hyderabad, they have also been using Subash Palekar’s Zero Budget Natural Farming Method to grow an array of crops.

What’s more? The water usage has come down by 70%, and in case of heavy rains, the crops won’t be damaged. Instead, the excess water will now recharge the groundwater table!

What started as a couple of plants in his kitchen garden has now grown into a 5.5 acre chemical-free farm where 22-year-old Sooraj CS encourages organic cultivation among other farmers in Wayanad! #LiveGreen #GrowOrganic

Content with the life choices the duo has made, KP Illias and Shamika Mone are on the pursuit of engaging more farmers across the country in organic farming.

It takes a great deal of courage to forsake one’s four-years worth of degree (sometimes even more) and well-paying jobs to pursue something as basic as farming.

For Rakesh, this method of farming was as good as finding a genie! From the profits earned in the very first year itself, he hired 20 labourers. Today, besides providing them with food and accommodation, he sponsors the education of their children.

Today, this resident of Pune has successfully converted a 3,500 square feet plot into a beautiful garden where she grows various fruits and vegetables, and she does it without using a drop of chemical pesticides or fertilisers.