Farmers urged to reduce input costs

"Zero budget farming can make cultivation a profitable occupation"

ERODE: If the right to life includes the right to access clean air, water and food, then the Green Revolution took away and continues to take away rights, Subash Palekar, promoter of the concept of Zero budget farming (ZBF) has said.

Addressing farmers at a four-day training programme on ZBF organised by the district administration along with 'Pasumai Vikatan', he said the Revolution had poisoned air, water and food because of the application of fertilisers and pesticides.

Not only that, the Revolution had done much more damage, he said. "It also polluted the soil, forcing the farmer to add more and more fertiliser and had finally denuded the land to the extent that productivity has started coming down."

The agriculture graduate continued, "That apart, the repeated use of fertiliser and pesticide pushed farmers into the debt trap, and, unable to come out of the clutches of money lenders, many farmers committed suicide."