Organic agriculture is a production system that sustains the health of soil, ecosystem and people. It relies on ecological processes biodiversity and cycles adapted to local conditions rather than the use of input with adverse effects. Unlike chemical farming, organic farming aims to “feeding the soil” rather than “feeding the plant”. It is the means of giving back to nature what has been taken from it. Since organic farming aims at maintaining soil health the optimum yield can be obtained in a sustainable and eco-friendly manner in the long run. The primary goal of organic agriculture is to optimize the health and productivity of interdependent communities of soil life, plants, animals and people (
Scialabb and Hattam, 2002). The healthy soil in organic farm resulted in considerably lower insect and disease incidence. After the green revolution fertility of the soil has been degraded due to intensive cultivation, use of high doses of chemical fertilizers and insufficient use of organics
i.
e. farmyard manure, compost, crop residue, green manure, bio-fertilizers,
etc. At present time we face many challenges to achieve sustainable food security and quality of food materials. In a world battered by the COVID pandemic, the demand for healthy and safe food is already showing an upward trend and hence this is an opportune moment to be captured for a win-win situation for our farmers, consumers and the environment.
According to survey India holds a unique position among 187 countries practicing organic agriculture. India is home to 30% of total organic producers in the world having 2.30 million ha. Total organic cultivation area, 27, 59,660 total farmers (11, 60,650 PGS and 15, 99,010 India organic), 1703 total processors and 745 traders. A major relative increase of organic agricultural land was noted in recent past throughout the country (
FiBL, 2021) Organic farming is in a nascent stage in India. About 2.30 million hectares of farmland was under organic cultivation as of March 2019. This is two per cent of the 140.1 million ha net sown area in the country
(Surpura et al., 2025). A few states have taken the lead in improving organic farming coverage, as a major part of this area is concentrated only in a handful of states. Madhya Pradesh tops the list with 0.76 million ha of area under organic cultivation-that is over 27 per cent of India’s total organic cultivation area. The top three states-Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra-account for about half the area under organic cultivation (
Anonymous, 2018).
Natural Farming (NF) is considered to be agroecology based diversified farming system, which integrates crops, trees and livestock, allowing functional biodiversity (
Rosset and Martinez, 2012) to drastically cut down production costs by replacing the chemical fertilizers and pesticides with home-grown product like
Jeevamrith,
Beejamrith,
Neemastra etc. and adopting intercropping and mulching (
Palekar, 2005; 2006;
Swami, 2006). Highlighting the predominance of smallholder farmers (68.5 per cent marginal and 17.7 per cent small farmers) in India, The Economic Survey (2019) emphasized the importance of Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) as one of the alternative farming practices for improving the farmers’ income, in the backdrop of declining fertilizer response and farm income. Biological sciences (
e.
g. microbiology, ecology, soil science) with their increasingly “symbiotic”
(Gilbert et al., 2012) and “probiotic” (
Lorimer, 2017) understandings of soil and plant life are also an inspiration for the ecological renewal of agriculture. The core idea of natural farming is to encourage the growth of beneficial microbes without relying on external fertilizers or synthetic pesticides. Legumes, in this context, are valuable because they capture atmospheric nitrogen, enriching the soil
(Raveena et al., 2024).
Initially, a Japanese farmer, Masanobu Fukuoka proposed natural farming, which is based on the philosophy of working with natural cycles and processes of the natural world (
Fukuoka, 1987). The movement of promoting ZBNF in India has been championed by Shri Subhash Palekar has resulted into widespread adoption at varying levels in many states, especially andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh)
(Khadse et al., 2017; Mishra, 2018;
Niyogi, 2018). However, in recent times, a section of scientific community and critics vehemently oppose this alternative practices condemning it being not based on scientific evidences, promoting certain beliefs system, particularly indigenous cows, a backward-looking and chauvinistic idiom (
Shotwell, 2016;
Saldanha, 2018). After having exhaustive study of the movement,
Munster (2018) believes that the prevalent ambivalence makes natural farming a valuable case for the political ecology of agriculture. Moreover, most of these studies lack field level or experimental evidences to support their arguments. With this ambiguous context, the present study is an attempt to understand the practices followed by the farmers under natural farming; examine the adoption of practices by the farmers and to study the implication on costs of crop cultivation, yield and farmers income for major crops in the study area.
In 2006, the National Centre for Organic Farming (NCOF) and National Horticulture Mission (NHM) incorporated cow-based bio-enhancers into practices for organic cultivation of different crops. Modules on organic farming also include bio-enhancers. A bio-enhancer is a product derived from fermentations of plant and animal residues over a specified period of time
(Chaudhary et al., 2025). The plant growth promoting substances, such as immunity enhancers, are abundant in these sources because they contain microbial consortia, macro and micronutrients. This is generally used to treat seeds/seedlings, promote decomposition of organic material and increase plant vigour (
Pathak and Ram, 2013).
Natural farming is a multifaceted approach that encompasses a diverse range of inputs, each play distinct roles as growth promoters, protectors against pests and diseases and contributors to overall soil health. Central to various microbial activities associated with these inputs, which exert both direct and indirect influences on plant growth and protection. Natural farming practices are interconnected and contribute to various mechanisms that improve soil health, nutrient availability and water efficiency, leading to a more resilient agricultural system and potentially higher crop yields with better carbon accumulation in the soil
(Mishra et al., 2023). The total volume of export during 2020-21 was 888179.68 MT. The organic food export realization was around INR 707849.52 lakhs (1040.95 million USD). Organic products are exported to USA, European Union, Canada, Great Britain, Korea Republic, Israel, Switzerland, Ecuador, Vietnam, Australia
etc. In terms of export value realization processed foods include soyameal (57%) lead among the products followed by oilseeds (9%), cereals and millets (7%), plantation crop products such as Tea and Coffee (6%). Spices and condiments (5%), Dry fruits (3%), sugar (3%) and others
. (https://www.ibef.org/indianrice/organic-products).
Intercropping is an important aspect than sole cropping to growth of more than one crop species or cultivars simultaneously in the same field during a growing season. It is practical application of ecological principles such as diversity, crop interaction and other natural regulation mechanisms. There are very close relationships between yield advantage and nutrient acquisition in intercropping systems. It is an efficient cropping system in terms of resource utilization
(Paslawar et al., 2024). It is mainly related to complementary use of environmental resources by the component crops which result in increased and more stable yields. Especially the information on promising intercropping system under delayed monsoon conditions has been lacking which is required for contingency planning. Organic farming and natural farming along with intercropping has potential to increase net returns, reduce the risk of crop failure and reduce environmental impacts. Hence, promising chickpea based intercropping system was tested for their response with coriander, linseed and sorghum to evaluate their yield potentiality and system profitability. Success of intercropping in comparison with a pure cropping can be determined by a series of agronomic operations that interactions between the species will be affected by them. These operations are including ultimate density, planting date, resources availability and intercropping models
(Mazaheri et al., 2006; Gliessman, 1997). If there are “complementary effects” between the components of intercropping, production increases due to reducing the competition between them (
Mahapatra, 2011;
Zhang and Li, 2003;
Willey, 1979).
Willey (1990) considers intercropping as an economical method for higher production with lower levels of external inputs. This increasing use efficiency is important, especially for small-scale farmers and also in areas where growing season is short.
Chickpea
(Cicer arientinum) the most important pulse crop of
rabi season, is cultivated mainly in semi-arid and warm temperature regions of the world. Chickpea is known by its different names like Bengal gram in English and
Chana in Hindi. It is probably the highest protein containing grain legume except groundnut and soybean. The high nutritional value makes chickpea an important food particularly in famine prone areas of the world.
Globally, Bengal gram is cultivated on 15 million hectares, producing over 18.1 million tonnes during 2022-23. India is a largest producer of chickpea in the world with 13.75 million tonnes from an acreage of 10.91 million hectares, with a productivity of 10.12 quintals per hectare. (Statista, 2022-23). Though India is a largest producer, but it stands at 8th position in productivity with 1012 kg per hectare. Ethiopia has highest productivity of 2072 kg per hectare followed by USA with 1822 kg per hectare. The chickpea market is expected to grow to $19.19 billion by 2027 at a CAGR of 6.5%. Chickpeas contribute nearly 50% of India’s pulse production. The major producing states are Maharashtra (2.631 million hectares), Madhya Pradesh (2.346 million hectares), Rajasthan (1.938 million hectares), Uttar Pradesh (0.682 million hectares), Karnataka (0.962 million hectares) and Gujarat (0.631 million hectares). Chickpea contains 21% protein, 61% carbohydrate and 2.2% oil (
Gupta, 1988). It contains high quality protein and is suited for animal feed as well as for human diet. Due to its deep root system, it can withstand extended periods of drought by extracting water from deeper layer of soil. It is used in crop rotation (
Sachin and Gecit, 2006) and has atmospheric nitrogen fixation ability
(Jain et al., 1993) and other most important thing about the intercrop is that it plays the crucial role in organic farming system
(Mohammadi et al., 2010). In rainfed areas where probability of crop failure is higher due to frequent occurrence of weather aberrations, intercropping can be more stable and dependable than sole cropping (
Rao and Willey, 1980). So intercropping of chickpea with linseed and seed spices under organic condition can be better option in this area.
