Dehradun, Aug. 14 -- Natural farming in Uttarakhand holds immense potential due to the state's traditional, low-chemical baseline, high forest cover, and strong government backing. Because over 80% of agriculture in the hilly regions is rain-fed and relies minimally on synthetic fertiliers, the state's hill farming is often considersed "unintentionally organic". This provides a unique, ready-made foundation for chemical-free, low-cost natural farming practices like Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF).
The key growth drivers and prospects are plenty. The inherent strengths include - the state features 64% forest cover, which provides ample leaf litter and natural biomass for traditional farmyard manure. There is biodiversity resilience: Trad...