Healthy living soil is the base of any sustainable agriculture practice. Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) believes in natural growth of crops without adding any fertilizers and pesticides or any other foriegn elements. The word Zero Budget refers to the zero net cost of production of all crops (inter crops, border crops, multi crops). The inputs used for seed treatments and other inocluations are locally available in the form of cowdung and cow urine. A ZBNF practicisng farmer has lower cost of inputs and thus has better capacity to increase the incomes. At the same time, ZBNF crops helps in retaining soil fertiliting and is climate change resilient. The father of ZBNF and Padma Shri Awardee, Sh. Subash Palekar has provided following four important non-negotiable guidelines:
