Current Research in Agriculture and Farming (CRAF)
Year : 2025, Volume 6, Issue 3
First page : 55-65
Article doi: : http://dx.doi.org/10.18782/2582-7146.266
Natural Farming: A Sustainable Paradigm for Ecological Agriculture and Food Security
Rajesh C.1*, Ritesh Prasad Mehta2, N. Senthilkumar3, Huchchappa Jamakhandi4, Yogesh B. M.5, Naval Kishore Meena6
1M.Sc. Scholar, Department of Agronomy, University of Agricultural Sciences GKVK, Bangalore 2M.Sc. Scholar, Department of Horticulture and Post Harvest Technology (Vegetable Science), Palli Siksha Bhavana, Visva Bharati University Shantiniketan, Birbhum West Bengal 731236 3Associate Professor, Department of SS &AC, AC&RI, TNAU, Vazhavachanur 4Ph.D. Scholar, Division of Agronomy, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi – 110 012 5Research Scholar, Division of Agricultural Extension, ICAR-IARI New Delhi 110012 6Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Horticulture (Fruit Science), Rajasthan College of Agriculture, MPUAT, Udaipur-313001, Rajasthan, India *Corresponding Author E-mail: rajeshcdhongudi@gmail.com Received: 15.03.2025 | Revised: 28.05.2025 | Accepted: 14.06.2025
ABSTRACT
Natural farming represents a transformative paradigm in sustainable agriculture that eliminates synthetic chemical inputs while harnessing indigenous biological processes to restore ecological balance. This review comprehensively examines the principles, practices, and global models of natural farming, including Masanobu Fukuoka's do-nothing farming, Subhash Palekar's Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF), Korean Natural Farming (KNF), and agroecological approaches from Latin America. The paper critically evaluates natural farming's contributions to soil health restoration, biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration, and water-use efficiency. Furthermore, the review analyses natural farming's role in strengthening food security across its four dimensions: availability, access, utilization, and stability. With over 1.43 million farmers enrolled in India's National Mission on Natural Farming and the Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming programme reaching one million smallholders, evidence demonstrates significant potential for scalable adoption. The review identifies challenges including yield variability and knowledge gaps while proposing integrated policy frameworks for mainstreaming natural farming in global food systems.
Full Text : PDF; Journal doi : http://dx.doi.org/10.18782/2582-7146.266
Cite this article:
Rajesh, C., Mehta, R. P., Senthilkumar, N., Jamakhandi, H., Yogesh, B. M., & Meena, N. K. (2025). Natural Farming: A Sustainable Paradigm for Ecological Agriculture and Food Security, Curr. Rese. Agri. Far. 6(3), 55-65. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.18782/2582-7146.266
