Abstract
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Nature Sustainability |
| Early online date | 20 Jan 2020 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 20 Jan 2020 |
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Keywords
- SOIL PHYSICAL-PROPERTIES
- INDIA
- NITROGEN
- FERTILIZER
- WHEAT
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Geography, Planning and Development
- Food Science
- Nature and Landscape Conservation
- Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
- Global and Planetary Change
- Ecology
- Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
- Urban Studies
Cite this
Potential yield challenges to scale-up of zero budget natural farming. / Smith, Jo (Corresponding Author); Yeluripati, Jagadeesh; Smith, Pete; Nayak, Dali Rani.
In: Nature Sustainability, 20.01.2020.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Potential yield challenges to scale-up of zero budget natural farming
AU - Smith, Jo
AU - Yeluripati, Jagadeesh
AU - Smith, Pete
AU - Nayak, Dali Rani
N1 - We thank V. Kumar, Z. Hussain and R. Nalavade of RySS for information, support while visiting sites and discussions. Funding for this work was provided by the Newton Bhabha Virtual Centre on Nitrogen Efficiency in Whole Cropping Systems (NEWS) project no. NEC 05724, the DFID-NERC El Niño programme in project NE P004830, ‘Building Resilience in Ethiopia’s Awassa Region to Drought’ (BREAD), the ESRC NEXUS programme in project IEAS/POO2501/1, ‘Improving Organic Resource Use in Rural Ethiopia’ (IPORE), and the GCRF South Asian Nitrogen Hub (NE/S009019/1). J.Y. was supported by the Scottish Government’s Rural and Environment Research and Analysis Directorate under the current Strategic Research Programme (2016–2021): Research Deliverable 1.1.3: Soils and Greenhouse Gas Emissions. The input of P.S. contributes to the UKRI-funded projects DEVIL (NE/M021327/1), Soils-R-GRREAT (NE/P019455/1) and N-Circle (BB/N013484/1), the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme projects CIRCASA (grant agreement no. 774378) and UNISECO (grant agreement no. 773901), and the Wellcome Trust-funded project Sustainable and Healthy Food Systems (SHEFS).
PY - 2020/1/20
Y1 - 2020/1/20
N2 - Under current trends, 60% of India’s population (>10% of people on Earth) will experience severe food deficiencies by 2050. Increased production is urgently needed, but high costs and volatile prices are driving farmers into debt. Zero budget natural farming (ZBNF) is a grassroots movement that aims to improve farm viability by reducing costs. In Andhra Pradesh alone, 523,000 farmers have converted 13% of productive agricultural area to ZBNF. However, sustainability of ZBNF is questioned because external nutrient inputs are limited, which could cause a crash in food production. Here, we show that ZBNF is likely to reduce soil degradation and could provide yield benefits for low-input farmers. Nitrogen fixation, either by free-living nitrogen fixers in soil or symbiotic nitrogen fixers in legumes, is likely to provide the major portion of nitrogen available to crops. However, even with maximum potential nitrogen fixation and release, only 52–80% of the national average nitrogen applied as fertilizer is expected to be supplied. Therefore, in higher-input systems, yield penalties are likely. Since biological fixation from the atmosphere is possible only with nitrogen, ZBNF could limit the supply of other nutrients. Further research is needed in higher-input systems to ensure that mass conversion to ZBNF does not limit India’s capacity to feed itself.
AB - Under current trends, 60% of India’s population (>10% of people on Earth) will experience severe food deficiencies by 2050. Increased production is urgently needed, but high costs and volatile prices are driving farmers into debt. Zero budget natural farming (ZBNF) is a grassroots movement that aims to improve farm viability by reducing costs. In Andhra Pradesh alone, 523,000 farmers have converted 13% of productive agricultural area to ZBNF. However, sustainability of ZBNF is questioned because external nutrient inputs are limited, which could cause a crash in food production. Here, we show that ZBNF is likely to reduce soil degradation and could provide yield benefits for low-input farmers. Nitrogen fixation, either by free-living nitrogen fixers in soil or symbiotic nitrogen fixers in legumes, is likely to provide the major portion of nitrogen available to crops. However, even with maximum potential nitrogen fixation and release, only 52–80% of the national average nitrogen applied as fertilizer is expected to be supplied. Therefore, in higher-input systems, yield penalties are likely. Since biological fixation from the atmosphere is possible only with nitrogen, ZBNF could limit the supply of other nutrients. Further research is needed in higher-input systems to ensure that mass conversion to ZBNF does not limit India’s capacity to feed itself.
KW - SOIL PHYSICAL-PROPERTIES
KW - INDIA
KW - NITROGEN
KW - FERTILIZER
KW - WHEAT
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85078195692&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41893-019-0469-x
DO - 10.1038/s41893-019-0469-x
M3 - Article
JO - Nature Sustainability
JF - Nature Sustainability
SN - 2398-9629
ER -