Lupin Foundation trains over 7,000 farmers in zero budget natural farming

Over 7,000 farmers from various states have been trained in the innovative, cost-effective and environment-friendly zero budget natural farming techniques, Lupin Foundation said on Tuesday. Veteran agriculturist and Padma Shri awardee Subhash Palekar spearheaded the six-day training workshop at Bharatpur, Rajasthan, it said.

Palekar gave guidance and demonstration on making farm-use products such as "Jeevaamrit, Beejamrit, Gan Jeevaamrit" and other bio-pesticides, the CSR arm of pharma company Lupin, said in a statment. Zero budget natural farming is a set of farming methods that involve no use of chemical fertilisers.

More than 7,000 farmers from various states – including Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra – participated in the training. "This programme aims to complement our government's efforts towards doubling of farmers income by 2022. Lupin Foundation is aiming to improve income for farmers by aligning with natural farming.

"We would train the farmers and equip them with the knowledge on how farming is done in sync with the nature, so as to cut down farming expenditure drastically," Lupin Foundation Executive Director Sitaram Gupta said. Earlier this year, the government had announced the promotion of zero budget natural farming in the Union Budget 2019 to boost farmers' income.

The Foundation said that zero budget natural farming is an accepted practise in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh with widespread adoption. Over 30 million farmers practise this approach.

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