Economics of Chemical and Natural Farming with and without Cattle Integration in Rice-Jowar Cropping System

Andhra Pradesh is leading in natural farming due to the presence of an initiative named Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming (APCNF) in all the districts by a non-profit organization named Rythu Sadhikara Samstha under the AP government. A study was conducted in the district of Guntur, and the group discussions were focused on the farmers who had been adopting the natural farming (NF) practices of APCNF for more than 5 years. The study aimed to compare the economics of the farmers following Natural farming with and without cattle, with those of conventional farming in Paddy and Jowar. NF is known for its low-cost efficiency as the natural inputs are homemade and require a very low cost of preparation as all the raw materials are cattle-derived or easily available to the farmer who has livestock on his farm. Farmers without livestock depend on goshalas for the raw material which is comparatively cheaper than conventional farming inputs. Thus, the input material cost is the primary factor for the cost efficiency. In NF, as none of the inputs is available readymade it includes the preparation of biostimulants with long procedures that require a large amount of time and labor which accounts for the major cost in cultivation. Spraying of herbicides is also prohibited in NF because of which weeding accounts for a major increase in the cost of cultivation. The yield analysis states that comparatively NF yields less than conventional chemical-intensive farming in the initial years. When the cost-to-benefit ratio is analyzed, conventional farming has higher revenue but profits are lower compared to NF due to lower input costs. Considering the comparative economic analysis, NF is at the positive in the cost-efficiency ratio and benefit-cost ratio compared to conventional farming including input costs, labor requirements, and overall operational expenses despite its low yield.