Comparison of natural farming with organic and conventional farming practices in green gram-paddy cropping system

Abstract

Natural farming system (NFS) is one of the traditional cultivation methods to cut down production costs as well as dependence on external inputs. Being considered as an agro-ecologically diverse farming practice, it brings a host of ecological and social benefits. In order to know the sustainance of natural farming practice, field experiments were conducted at Zonal Agriculture Research Station (ZARS), V.C. Farm, Mandya, Karnataka, India for consecutive years (2019 to 2022). The experiments were laid out in a randomized complete block design comprised of five replication and four different farming practices as treatments namely, absolute control (AC), organic production system (OPS), Natural farming system (NFS) and recommended package of practice (RPP) of UAS, GKVK, Bengaluru. The pooled data of farming practices indicated significant variation in growth, yield and nutrient uptake, among farming practices significantly higher growth, yield and nutrient uptake were recorded with RPP both in green gram and paddy. The results of four years pooled data indicated that compared to conventional farming practice, natural farming recorded decreased yield of 134 (23.53%) and 3350 kg ha^-1 (74.49%) in green gram and paddy, respectively. Also recorded 33.38% and 30.23% weed control efficiency by mulching in green gram and paddy, respectively. Based on this study we found that low nutrient demanding crops such as green gram (Pulses) are more suitable under natural farming compared high nutrient demanding crops viz., Paddy. Yields under natural farming can be enhanced by application of Farm yard manure and other natural sources for plant nutrition.