Zero Budget Natural Farming, Sustainable Agriculture, KCS Notes from great Pujya Shri Subash Palekar Seminar

KCS Notes from Zero Budget Natural Farming seminar by Mr. Subash Palekar from 19-23rd Dec 2011 at Pollachi organized by Pollachi Chamber of Commerce.

KCS and Pujya Shri Subash Palekar

The following are the notes taken at the seminar:

With 1 Desi cow (Indian indigenous cow), we can perform 30 acres of farming.
• Advantages of ZBNF (Zero Budget Natural Farming) :
• Insecticides, fertilizers, pesticide are not purchased.
• Tilling of the farm is not required.
• Production will be more than chemical (CF) and organic farming (OF) from the 1st year itself.
• Only 10% water and 10% electricity is sufficient.
• Above all, ZBNF ensures produce which is free of poison and hence will fetch a good price.

What are the problems that resulted by Globalisation and non-indigenous type of development?
1. Food crisis
2. Suicides of farmers – All developed countries have this; ironically in under developed (according to western principles) areas there are no suicides of farmers.
3. Global warming.
4. Destruction of Natural resources.
Even developed countries registered suicides of farmers. The cause can be attributed to the following.
• Cost of agriculture is increasing day by day like seeds, fertilizers etc increases in cost every year. And farmers have to buy these from the market, produced by International companies and not locally.
• Natural calamities.
• Market.
• Government policies.
Organic farming is not an alternative because this is more expensive and people who are promoting organic farming are misleading farmers and nation.
For eg: 1 bag of urea used in chemical farming is around Rs.400 but 50 kg of organic manure is Rs. 600 – 3000.
1 litre of Endosulfan costs Rs.500 while a litre of Herbal insecticides is priced at Rs.1100.
So, it is clear from the facts above organic farming is not low-cost farming but actually is high-cost farming. This results in farmers spending more, and pulling them into the vicious cycle of ‘high cost production -> more loans’. Also, if there is any natural calamity during the harvest or insects or diseases that impact the harvest, the farmer is unable to pay the loan. Even if the produce escapes any natural calamity, the market price is reduced. Government will import commodities from International markets and thereby reduce the local market price for local produce. So, the farmer is forced to sell his produce immediately as his loan interest is going up. But in ZBNF the cost of production is Zero, so no loans. This way he can keep the produce until the prices go up. The farmer can defeat the government and other institutions that are the causes.
Government doesn’t pay Rs.1000 / quintal of wheat but imports it from international market at Rs.1600 / quintal. But the imported wheat is not fit for consumption. This results in Punjab farmers committing suicide. But ZBNF farmer sold the produce directly to consumer at Rs.3000/quintal.
Consumers are willing to pay high price because they are aware that natural produce is free from poisonous chemicals. They are aware that chemically produced food leads to cancer, diabetes, heart diseases etc.

Poison-less food, pollution free environment and air, happy life are the birth right of every human and other living species. This is not possible with Chemical and Organic Farming. As ZBNF farmers we do not have any enemies. Even those who manufacture chemical fertilizers are not our enemies, but they are also part of this movement. They are all aware that all diseases like cancer, heart attack etc are caused by these chemically produced products. But we object Chemical and Organic Farming because they are the cause for many problems to humans.
Before the green revolution, none of the farmers said he is ‘Chemical farming – CF’ or ‘Organic farming - OF’ but only ‘Farming’. When the west realized the impact of CF they needed an alternate farming and came with OF. Both of these are 100% western and not our own.

The first technology is
(i) Compost technology. British sent a scientist, Dr. Albert Howard to India. He brought the compost technology to Indian farmers, which was under British rule. He travelled through out India to all villages and studied our farming practices and sent a report to England. It said Indian farming technology is much better than our farming and we have to learn from them.
(ii) Vermi-compost technology. A worm known as Eisenia fetida (older spelling: foetida) is used in producing vermi-compost. Though organic manure promoters, NGOs, OF-scientists claim Eisenia fetida as ‘earth worm’, the truth is it is not an earthworm but a surface feeder worm.

The list below proves why Eisenia fetida(Ef) is not an earthworm, as there are 16 characters of earthworm and Ef does not have any single character.

1. Earthworm eats mud or soil as food, while Ef eats cow-dung and straw.
2. Earthworm moves up and down the soil, 24 hours a day, making the soil porous and helps in water absorption, but Ef moves on the surface.
3. Earthworm goes deep inside the soil if the top condition is not suitable, to a hermit stage, but Ef moves to nearby places.
4. Earthworm can survive 50o C in Rajasthan and 0o C in Himalayas but Ef dies when temperature reaches 28oC.
5. Earthworm moves up and down the soil eating the micronutrients from the bottom of the earth and nourishes the top soil with their castings, unlike Ef.
So, Ef is not a good but evil demon. The western scientist used it as a bio-monitor to measure the chemical contents of earth like mercury, arsenic etc and not as a composter.
Vermi-compost will exploit natural resources and even economy.
Originally they used CF to achieve the above but now they use OF. They want Indian soil to be baron, and destroy all natural resources, water, soil, environment and human resources.
We have to accept that they have succeeded in their agenda.
All want fertile soil to grow anything. Fertility is humus in soil. All plants take the nutrients via the humus via their roots. If your soil has more humus it is more fertile and if it has less humus it is less fertile. So government and agricultural universities only give policies to destroy humus, so their agenda of spoiling the fertility of the soil has succeeded.
Since humus is the fertility of the soil, it is our responsibility to increase humus in the soil and revive back our natural resources. Humus is created by decomposing leaves and straw material.
Straw: Agriculture scientist says it is the decomposed matter of plants. But truly it is not just plants but decomposed dead body of any living being is straw. Leaf, flowers, fruits, even a tree, or a dead body of a human or an animal, bird, insects are all straws. This is required to increase the humus of the soil.
Good micro organism culture will act on these straw and convert them into nutrients. This good micro organism culture is found in good quality and quantity in ‘desi cow’ compared to the JF, Jersey, buffalo etc. In 1 gram of desi cow’s dung there are 300-500 crores of micro organisms.

So that means, HUMUS = STRAW + DESI COW DUNG

We can use all straw to mulch the soil, they get converted to humus. But burning the straw will not create the humus and if you remove the straw as animal feed humus is not produced. Scientists say that the eggs of insects are present in the straws and if you do not burn them the insect will attack the plants. But why in the forests the plants and trees are healthy and not attacked by insects? So their purpose is to prevent your soil from getting fertile thorough humus and that is also the reason for them promoting HF, Jersey cows instead of desi cow citing economical reasons as they know that desi cow has more micro organisms. Mulching helps to create humus, but if Ef is used to create the manure it will not produce humus. This way farmer has to buy fertilizer from the market, manufactured mostly by giant companies. So their aim is to exploit farmers based on economical promises and make our soil sterile.

Vermi-compost has the following ill effects:
1. The temperature rises to 28oC and above.
2. 46% of the volatile Carbon escapes and mixes with the environments atmosphere causing pollution.
3. Carbon-dioxide, Methane, Nitrous oxide is produced and these three causes global warming.
4. All the heavy metals are present in chemical fertilizers and the same result is obtained in vermi-compost also. All these heavy metals are taken by the plants and when this is consumed by humans it causes diseases like cancer etc.
When urea is applied to the farm, and when insecticides are applied, the plants absorb this and store them in the body. When we consume these plants we are eating poisonous plants. This decreases our immunity. When this immunity is decreased then we get diseases like cancer, heart ache, diabetes etc.
Oncogenes are the genes that can cause cancer and is available in every human being. When these oncogenes are activated this causes cancer. Insecticides etc can activate oncogenes.
Also, by buying these chemical fertilisers only the commission remains in India and the money goes to west. So it is not economically good for the country also.
Now there is a lot of talk about global warming. So, when we use compost, vermi-compost we are raising the CO2, Methane, Nitrous oxide, Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) in the atmosphere. CFC can stay in atmosphere for 120 years, while methane stays for 20 years. Nitrous oxide and CFC causes global warming. These gases destroy the ozone layer. These green house gases keep the warmth from the sunlight and also that is produced from earth causing the global warming. This results in climatic changes.
If the global warming is increased by 1oC, the produce of 1 acre will reduce by 160 kg.
Global warming will cause changes to monsoon patterns also and thereby impacting agriculture For ex, during the month of October Northern India will experience cold, but nowadays, it is experiencing high temperature in that season.
Also emissions from chemical fertilizer producing factories impact the earth’s atmosphere negatively. So CF and OF decreases the fertility of soil, makes the soil sterile, impacts health of humans, produces green house gases. The cost is also high. Production of crops also is not increased by OF.

So we DON’T NEED Chemical Farming or Organic Farming and for the same reasons we need ZERO BUDGET NATURAL FARMING (ZBNF)

Sustainable Agriculture:

A technology that will sustain all natural resources is sustainable agriculture. All natural resources are Prithivi (Earth), Aap (Water), Tej(Fire). Vaayu(Air) and Akaash(Sky)

Earth: Whatever nutrients taken from soil by the roots.
Water: Monsoons like north east or south west monsoons.
Fire: Solar energy. One square feet of a green leaf uses 12.5 kcal from the sun.
Air: Atmosphere – Co2 taken from air.
Sky (Akaash) – Cosmic energy given by 27 Nakshatras.

How CF and OF destroys the 5 elements of nature?

Soil: If the organic carbon percentage in the soil is 2.5% it is fertile. The organic carbon is formed by humus. When we are able to deposit more humus, it makes soil fertile. But we have seen earlier how CF and OF prevents humus formation and hence it is destroying soil, the first element. More humus means more yields. Before 30 years, farmers were harvesting 100 tons of sugarcane / acre but now farmers are harvesting only 12-30 tons / acre.

Water: Now all researches indicate that water is polluted. This is not caused by industries only, but also by agriculture. Usage of chemicals leads to an increase of heavy metals and poisonous metals like nitrates, cadmium, Arsenic in the ground water. Even a simple tooth paste is polluting. Not only industries and agriculture but the different living standards of humans are also polluting natural resources. So, there is no use blaming every one of us has to start practising pollution free life.

Solar energy: Because of global warming the ozone layer is spoiled and UV rays enter the earth and destroy other natural resources. We have seen how CF and OF spoils the solar energy earlier.

Air and Sky: All green house gases like CO2, Methane, Nitrous oxide, CFC are spoiling the atmosphere. Compost and vermi-compost contains 46% volatile carbon which mixes in the air and pollutes the atmosphere. CF and OF are the cause of increasing this. Also, when we burn straw and agricultural waste as advised by the scientists huge smoke is produced and pollutes the air and sky.

Now we have seen that CF and OF are destroying the 5 elements of nature then how can we agree that they are sustainable. So the only technology that is sustainable is ZBNF. This is 100% sustainable because this will not harm the 5 elements of nature.

The definition of Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF):

ZB: The cost of production of main crop will be compensated by the production of inter crops and the main crop is bonus.
Some examples: It is noted in all coconut fields in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil nadu that there are no intercrops. Farmers have taken a lot of loans to purchase fertilizer, manures, insecticides, pesticides etc to have high yield. So, if the tree falls due to any natural calamity then the farmer is indebted. So instead if we plant custard apple, chillies, mango etc in between the trees then we can have revenue from these intercrops.
Government says the reason for suicides of farmers is draught. But in Punjab (cotton) and Karnataka (Sugarcane) the production of crops were very high, and yet the farmers committed suicide because of loan sharks and banks. So the government really do not know the cause. But none of the ZBNF farmer in the same area has committed suicide, because he planted sugarcane with 8 feet spacing. CF used 2 tonnes seeds but ZBNF farmer used only 200 kilos. Also, they planted cowpea, onions etc and vegetables as inter crops. ZBNF did not use any fertilizers, no tilling etc. They only used Jeevamrithm, Ganajeevamrithm. They took Rs.40000/acre but expenses only Rs.7000. So the net profit was Rs.33000/acre. He made Rs.1500 from intercrop alone. So there is no need for the ZBNF farmer to commit suicide.

NF: Firstly, for NF we should not follow any suggestion by agricultural scientists. Whatever suggestions not given by agricultural scientists have to be strictly followed, which is Natural Farming. These scientists are not agriculturists but merely a technologist who follow the technology provided by the western scientist Norman Borlaug.

Definition: Whatever nutrients that is required for the growth of plants is provided by only nature and not by human being is natural farming.
Cultivation has to be done by nature, Urea, potash, phosphate etc has to be given by nature, micronutrients has to be provided by nature, spraying has to be done by nature, irrigation has to be done by nature. In dense forests the trees are very huge and they are yielding numerous fruits. These areas are not even visited by humans. If a forest tree is analysed, there will not be any deficiency of micronutrients or macro nutrients. If humans don’t give any urea etc or any of those above mentioned items, and then who is providing all? It is the universal truth that without human intervention everything is provided by nature. This is the self sustainable process provided by God in the form of nature. Plants take micro nutrients from air through leaves and from soil through roots. From this it is obvious that the soil and air is highly nutritious in the forest. Soil is the ‘Annapoorani’.

Mr. Palekar analysed soil from top to 15 feet deep. He found that micro and macro nutrients were found in abundant only as the depth increased. The deeper we go, the soil is a ocean of nutrient. Hence our practise of soil testing by taking only 9” top soil may not be accurate. So in ZBNF soil test is not required. Soil is mother Earth. No child will test mother’s milk. So, if we can bring the nutrients from the bottom earth to top we don’t have to apply any external nutrients.
Upon constant observation and experiments Mr. Palekar inferred that there are 4 system of nature that brings the nutrients from the bottom to top.

Four Natural Systems:
i. Nutrient recycling.
ii. Capillary force.
iii. Activities of local earthworm.
iv. Cyclones.

Nutrient recycling: There are various nutrient cycles in nature like Carbon cycle, Water cycle, Nitrogen cycle and Energy cycle.
Green leaves of all plants will produce food only during day time (Photo synthesis). This process uses CO2 from air, water from soil, solar energy from sun and produce food. This carbon is deposited in the plant body. Solar energy taken from sun is also deposited in plants. Same happens to water from soil. After the plant’s life cycle it dies. In rainy season these plants are decomposed by good bacteria and the carbon is sent to air. 1 square feet of green leaf will consume 12.5 kcal from sun. This is deposited as solar unit in the plant body. When the plant dies it decomposes during rain. This is done by micro organisms and the energy is released back to nature once the micro organisms release it to nature. After the plant dies the water evaporates and reaches nature.

Southwest monsoon, starts from Arabian Sea to Indian Ocean during May 1st week. It takes 700 cubic mile of water and delivers it as rain, follows the river and reaches the ocean. Thus this cycle is complete. Every matter wants to reach the place its place of origin.
Whatever nutrients are taken from the soil is stored in plants and when we leave them back as mulching it returns the micro nutrients back to the soil after decomposing. But if we burn the leaves we are disrupting the nutrient cycle and will be forced to become a ‘CF’ or ‘OF’.

Humus should not be burnt:

The straw and leaves are needed for mulching but what about feeding the cows? Even if we feed the cows with the straw, the cow dung can be sent to the soil again. Low yield cows should not be sent to slaughter house as they give cow dung and urine which is worth more than the milk.
By burning the bio-mass or by preparing vermi-compost the bio mass is wasted, nutrient recycling is lost and also result in global warming.

In humus, there is 60% carbon and 6% nitrogen, so the ratio of carbon: nitrogen is 60:6, which is 10:1. So for 10 kilos of carbon we need 1 kilo of nitrogen. This is called carbon nitrogen ratio know as C:N ratio. This is 10:1 in humus.

To make humus 1 kg of nitrogen has to mix with 10 kg of carbon. Mulching of straws will result in humus. Now we need to analyse which plant should be used.
All plants belonging to Gramineae (grass) family like paddy, ragi, sugarcane, maize, wheat, bajra, jowar, all millets can be used for mulching. This has 80:1 C: N ratio of humus will be produced. So, by doing this we will release 80 kg of carbon and 1 kg of nitrogen. So 70 kg of carbon will remain unused and only 10 kg of carbon will be used for making humus. This will again cause global warming by releasing the remaining carbon into atmosphere. But using chemical nitrogen in the form of urea will not help. But it only needs organic nitrogen and organic carbon produced by micro organisms taken from air.

Coconut or Areca nut leaves, coir shells have C:N ratio of 120: 1. This will release 110 kg of carbon into atmosphere causing global warming. So we need additional 11 kg of nitrogen. In air there are 78.6 % N2. Good micro organisms take N2 from air are called nitrogen fixing bacteria. These are present in the nodules of roots of bicot plants like cowpea. So, we need to plant bicot plants like cow pea etc around the trees and also drumstick trees can be planted.

Three forms of carbon are available namely stable, unstable and volatile. These are present in soil and humus. Humus body does not contain volatile carbon. When a plant is cut before flowering state it will contain volatile carbon. So do not mulch plants before flowering stage. Unstable carbon is not constituted in the body of humus. Any plant body at the flowering stage it will contain unstable carbon. The unstable carbon will be released to the air. So, if we cut the plants at flowering stage as mulch; it is a waste.
Aerobic bacteria need 46% carbon and 14% nitrogen. These micro organisms take C2 and N2 but when the plants are ploughed into soil which will be used by anaerobic bacteria. So we should not plough the plants inside the soil. So we should let the mulching on the soil which will be decomposed by aerobic bacteria. So, there is a competition for nitrogen between micro organisms and plants. So plant leaves changes to yellow colour and fall.
So, we need stable carbon only to convert to humus. We need to cut the plants only when the seeds are ready in the plants. This stable carbon is found in cellulose and lignin. This is available only in well grown plants. All plants should be used for mulching only after the harvest is done.

Mulching: (Aachadana – Sanskrit)
There are 3 types of mulching.
i) Mrida-aachadana (soil mulching) – ploughing of the soil
ii) Kasta-aachadana (straw mulching)
iii) Sajiwa-aachadana (live mulching) – inter crops.

Soil mulching: cultivation.
Three reasons to cultivate the soil:
1. To aerate the soil.
2. To consume rainwaters to reach the water table of the land.
3. To control the weeds.
These are required by both micro organisms and roots of the plants. The roots and micro organisms need the mother soil. This mother earth is 4 ½ inches from the top soil. 95% of N2 fixing bacteria lives at 4 ½ inches from top soil. 88 to 92% of the roots are present at 4 ½ inches from top soil. So we need an equipment to plough only 4 ½ inches of top soil. These micro organisms need oxygen from the air. When the ploughing is done deeply, the micro organism on top will go down and die due to lack of oxygen. So, we should use wooden plough, or rotovator, but should ensure we do not plough more than 4 ½ inches from top soil.

ZBNF needs to no cultivation.
Nature does its own soil cultivation. Scientists say that for more yield you need to cultivate using tractor. But in forests there is no cultivation done, so if you need to have a higher yield you don’t have to plough, Nature has a system to cultivate the soil.
Nature’s tractor -> Desi earthworm
Nature’s plough -> Roots of the plants
Nature’s harrow -> insects and ants

There are 3 destroyers of humus.
1. Air
2. Rain water
3. Sunlight
Air: When ploughing the humus comes on top of the soil and the air takes away the humus from the field. So mulching will prevent air from removing the humus.

Rainwater: Speed of rainwater is 30 feet / sec to 9 m/sec. When this rain water reaches the soil it removes the humus by force. This is where we need 5-tier agriculture practised in ZBNF. So with 5-tier way of agriculture the speed of the rainwater is reduced. This is system is called live mulching.

Five tier way of agriculture:

Five Layers: Big Trees -> Small Trees -> Bushes -> Plants -> Creepers
Sunlight: When temperature is more than 36oC it removes the carbon from the humus and mixes with oxygen in the air and become CO2 and causes global warming. But when mulching is done the sun’s heat is taken by the mulch. Also, the leaves and plants cover the soil and create more mulch and inturn turns into HUMUS.

To continue with the 4 Natural systems, the next is Capillary force:
There are 3 universal forces that controls the entire universe
a. Gravitational force
b. Capillary force
c. Controlling force – This controls the above two forces.
Gravitational force was discovered by Isaac Newton. Any mass doesn’t fall from top but is being pulled by gravitational force. Any body with weight is called mass. This is not true, according to Mr. Palekar. He says any form of nature will go back to its origin; i.e. why water which comes from clouds will go back to its origin. So it goes against gravity.
During rainfall water is there for cultivation. But after the monsoon has stopped the water from 30 feet below is starting to move up and help to reach the plants. This is by using the capillary force. So all the micro nutrients that we saw that are found in the bottom soil the water takes it with them and provide for the plants. 80% of nutrients required by plants are got by capillary force. This will happen only when the soil has pores and spaces between particles. So, if these nutrients are got by capillary force then we don’t need to buy any additional fertilizers. So, if the spaces are closed in the soil then farmers will have to buy fertilizers. That is why they are advised to use ‘CF’ Urea is 46% Nitrogen and 54% salts. When urea is mixed in soil and dissolves in water it produces NH3 – Ammonia and CO2. NH3 is poisonous and it kills all the micro organisms in the soil. Also, the salts plague the pores in soil particles.
Super phosphate is 16% phosphorous and 84% salt. This also causes plaguing of pores in soil particles. This hardens the soil preventing water to enter the earth. So our aim is to increase the capillary force. Non usage of ‘CF’ will help keep the soil porous.
Local earthworm: Socrates has quoted ‘earthworm’ in the heart of earth, which is true. Earthworm is active 24 hours a day. The earthworm goes up and down the earth for casting. If the earthworm needs to be active it has to have a suitable condition on top soil; if not they will go down to 15 feet deep and go to a dormant stage. So we need to keep the suitable climate for earthworm known as ‘micro climate’.
Micro climate is needed for earthworm. No micro climate – no activities.
Air circulated with temp 25oC to 32oC
Humidity – 65 to 72%
Inside the soil there should be dampness and waaphsa.

WAAPHSA: Agricultural Scientist say roots take water, water is essential. Truth is that none of the roots want water, but they need waaphsa. In the soil, in between two particles, there should be no existence of water. There should be 50% water vapour molecule and 50% air molecules. This can be created by covering the soil by mulching.
In an adverse condition, the earthworm goes down and goes to a dormant stage, where water is available. Earthworm eat, soil, rock material, sand, lime stones and pathogenic bacteria that spoils plants. Then they come up and leave their casting. Now all nutrients are carried to the surface of the soil. They don’t travel by the same passage; but comes in different paths every time thus creating more pores, which helps to increase the water table. This is a miracle activity. This is a natural water management by nature. When the earthworm goes up and down it secretes a liquid called vermiwash. This also contains all micro nutrients and gives resistance to all diseases to the plants. This also contains many amino acids. Contains many amino acids which are good for plant growth and it gives it free of cost. Organic farmers are selling this for higher cost. These castings are filling the top soil. By third year the top soils is filled with this castings which contains high nutrients.
This contains,
• 6 times more nitrogen than in soil.
• 8 times more phosphate than in soil.
• 10 times more potassium than the soil.
• 7 times more calcium than in the soil.
• 9 times more magnesium than in the soil.
• 11 times more sulphur than in the soil.
So this casting of local earthworms is a ocean of nutrients, also contains good bacteria and micro organisms. The casting of earthworm does not dissolve in rain water. With each year the soil becomes more fertile.
An example: If a mango tree is cut, plants under the canopy will grow vigorously compared to the plants outside the canopy. So we can develop our farm using local earthworms. 1 teaspoon of urea or 1 drop of endosulfan can kill us. So it is essential to stop the ‘CF’ and ‘OF’ practices which will kill these local earthworm.
It is our commitment to re-introduce micro organism and earthworms in our lands. So we will not purchase any fertilizer from market.

Two agendas:
1. Money from villages will not go to city and money from cities will have to come to village.
2. Money will stay locally.
But we have to introduce earthworm in our farm, and not by buying vermi-compost etc. To increase the earthworm and micro organisms, we need to apply only one manure which is cow dung of desi cow. Applying this cowdung to the soil will wake up the earthworms from their ‘Samaathi’ state.
If we pickup the cow dung and check there will be 2 to 3 holes on the ground. These holes are caused by local earthworm.
According to Mr. Palekar Jersey or HF is not a cow but another animal. They look like cow but not a cow. They look like a pig but not a pig. They look like a deer but not a deer. He proved it scientifically and genetically that these are not cows. He calls it a ‘cowpig’.

Indian agriculture is as old as 10000 years. Before 6000 years the agriculture was done by shifting agriculture from one place to another. Even now some tribal people practice this. When human civilization started to grow, the shifting agriculture stopped gradually. Even in our ancient scriptures we can see ‘desi’ cow has its importance. Also this ‘Bos indicus’, the desi cow species also existed in Africa. One species of this Bos indicus was in America and Europe but they slaughtered it. The species belonged to Bos genera family.
Bos Genera evolved into three species
1. Bos Indicus – The desi cow.
2. Bos Taurus – (Foreign cow) HF, Jersey etc.
3. Yak – seen in Nepal, Sikkim, Tibet, Bhutan, Ladak etc)
The characters of the three types are so different and there is no similarity. Like how, Yak is a different animal, bos Taurus is also a different animal and not a cow. How monkey evolved into humans and they are two different species. Similarly Indian cow and Bos Taurus are different animals. Desi cow belongs to Zebu family. Zebu has 21 characters of which bos Taurus does not have even a single character. If not a single character is present, then how can we accept that HF or Jersey is a cow?
Leaf: Leaves are made of green pigments known as chlorophyll. Its work is to make food i.e. carbohydrate (raw sugar). The raw materials required for this is Air (CO2) + moisture + solar energy.
1 sq.feet of surface area of leaf produces 4.5 gm of carbohydrates everyday. Out of this 4.5 gm is used to produce 1.5 gm of grains and 2.25 grams weight of vegetables and fruits.
Earth doesn’t send any bill and C02 is free of cost. Also sunlight is free of cost. Monsoon gives the rain, but doesn’t send any bill either. So 98.5% of raw materials for food production of plants is free of cost. No intervention by the farmer. The remaining 1.5% is provided by the earthworm. Nature has done this wonder by we believe it is us who have grown the groundnuts, the plants etc. It is God; the nature who is growing the plants.
No subsidy, no human intervention and all are freely provided by nature.
Take 100 kg of paddy straw (100 kg of any green biomass). Spread it in the floor. Take the weight of dried bio-mass, which will be reduced to 22kg. 78 kg is reduced when water vaporizes. Now burn this 22kg of straw. Smoke and flames will appear. This releases carbon which was taken earlier by the plant and is released to atmosphere. The flames are nothing by the solar energy that the plants acquired earlier which is released back to the sun. The remaining 1.5kg is white ash. This again explains the 98.5% raw materials that are provided by nature and what is left is the 1.5% that was provided by the earthworm. So truck loads of FYM, panchakavya etc is of no use. Now the question is why do we need the cow dung? Cow dung is not a manure but used as a culture.
Fertility of the soil is by micro organisms and earthworms. So to introduce micro organisms and earthworms back to the farm, we need cow dung not as manure but as a culture. As we have seen earlier 1 gm of cow dung from desi cow has 300-500 crores of micro organisms, which is a good culture for micro organisms.

Jeevamrithm:
Ingredients:
1. Desi cow dung – 10 kg
2. Desi cow urine – 5 to 10 litres
3. Jaggery – 1 kg
4. Flour of any bi-cot pulse – 1 or 2 kg.
5. Soil from the bund – 1 hand full.
The cow dung should be fresh and cow’s urine should be old or aged. The quality of the dung is good from varieties that yield less milk.
Method:
Take 200 litres water. Add 10 kg of cow dung and use your hands to mix. Mix the 5-10 litres of urine in this. Then powder the 1 kg of jaggery and mix. Also use 5 lites water to mix the bigot flour and mix.
Add the 1 handful of bund soil. Universal direction is clock wise. So mix it in clockwise. Keep this in shadow. Close this with porous gunny sack. This is required to allow escaping of poisonous gases like CO, methane and NH3. Keep it for 48 hours for fermentation, In 48 hours the fermentation is completed. Mix this in clockwise After 48 hours Jeevamrithm is ready. This should be used within 7 days. After 7 days the nice smell turns pungent but still you can pour it on empty lands. This can be used in irrigation water. This can be increased to 400 litres. But when you use this soil should contain water.
Irrigation from well: If irrigation is available for only 1 acre of land, then we can mix 200 litres of jeevamrithm directly to the well. If the water is available for 2 acres then we can mix 400 litres of jeevamrithm.
If we are using drip irrigation, then we need to filter the jeevamrithm very well, if not it may clog the drip tube passage.

Ganajeevamrithm:
Although it is an alternate for jeevamrithm, both can be applied together also. Two forms of ganajeevmrithm preparation is available.

No.1:
Ingredients:
1. Desi cow dung – 100kg
2. Jaggery powder – 1kg
3. Bigot gram flour – 1kg
Mix 1 kg of jaggery powder and 100kg of cow dung. Mix 1 kg of flour from a bigot gram. Do not mix urine. Mix this well using any instrument. Keep this in shade. Cover this pile using a gunny sack. Keep it 48 hours for fermentation. Remove the gunny sack after 48 hours. Spread this on a plastic sheet or cement flour and dry it in sunlight. When doing this the micro organisms will enter into dormant sage. Also if water enters before drying nitrogen will get converted to NH3 and escape into air. If it is not dried completely fungal attack is possible. Once it is dried nicely powder the ganajeevamrithm. Keep them in sacks. Expiry date is 1 year. This can be applied to the fields within 1 year.

No.2: Take 200 kg of FYM (Farm yard manure – Thozhu uram). Dry this in sunlight. Pound the bigger pieces to make them as powder. Sieve this using sieve to get a fine powder. Spread this on a plastic sheet or cement as a thick layer of 1 foot high. Spray 20 litres of Jeevamrithm (10% of the FYM). Mix it very well with spade. Mix it length wise and breadth wise. Only then this will mix well with FYM. Leave this mixture in shade and dry. Cover this with gunny bag. Keep it for 48 hours. Remove the gunny bag after 48 hours. Spread it on a plastic sheet or cement floor and dry it in sunlight. After it has dried up collect this in gunny bags. This can be kept for 1 year.
Both the types will work in the same way. This can be kept for 1 year. So it is easy to store and use. If you have gobar gas plant the slurry can be used. They produce electricity for household and farm activities. In the gobar gas plant a lot of heat is generated and so all aerobic bacteria is killed. Only anaerobic bacteria will remain. So we can use the gobar gas slurry and prepare gana jeevamrithm.
Take 50% gobar gas slurry and 50% desi cow dung. Mix them well with 1 kg of jaggery and 1 kg of any bigot gram flour. Mix I well with spade. Leave the mixture in shade. Keep for 48 hours. Cover with gunny bags. After 48 hours spread it on any plastic sheet or cement floor in sunlight. Break the big pieces into small pieces. Once the moisture is dried completely put then in sacks.

How to spray Jeevamrithm on crops?
First group of crops: Plants with 60-120 days life span.
Spray no 1: One month after sowing the seeds or after planting the seedlings. Take 100 litre water and 5 litres of filtered jeevamrithm. Stir it well and spray this on plants.
Spray no 2: 21 days after the 1st spray. Take 150 litres water/acre and mix 10 litres of filtered jeevamrithm. Stir it well and spray.
Spray no 3: 21 days from 2nd spray. Take 200 litres of water and mix with 20 litres of filtered jevamrithm. Mix it well and spray.
Last spray: When the size of fruits or seeds are 1/4th of its actual size. Take 200 litres of water and mix with 5-6 litres of butter milk.
Second group of crops: Plants with 120 – 180 days life span.
Spray no 1: One month after sowing the seeds or after planting the seedlings. Take 100 litre water and 5 litres of filtered jeevamrithm. Stir it will and spray this on plants.
Spray no 2: 21 days after the 1st spray. Take 150 litres water/acre and mix 10 litres of filtered jeevamrithm. Stir it well and spray.
Spray no 3: 21 days after 2nd spray, spray 200 litres of Neemasthiram. No water only neemasthiram. These neemasthiram has to be sprayed only when insects eggs are seen on the plant leaves. If there are no insect eggs, then you can use 200 litres of water and 20 litres of jeevamrithm.
Spray no 4: 21 days after 3rd spray. 200 litres of water and 20 litres of jeevamrithm.
Last spray: When the fruits are 1/4th of the actual size mix 200 litres of water with sour buttermilk and spray.

Preparation of Neemasthiram
Take 200 litres of water and mix with 2kg of desi cow dung and 10 litres of desi cow urine. Take 10 kg of neem tree branches along with leaves and cut into small pieces and add to the above mixture. Now stir it vigorously with a stick. Keep this for 48 hours in shade for fermenting. Cover it with gunny bag. Stir it well clockwise for 1 minute every morning and evening. Filter this using a clean cloth and store it in any vessels. It is good to keep this in earthern pots. There is not more dilution needed. This has to be sprayed directly. This neemasthiram has to be sprayed only when insect eggs are spotted on the plant leaves.

ZBNF Guide Video:

At EA FARMS we practice sustainable natural agricultural practices and are focusing on Zero Budget to move forward.
By KC