Subhash Palekar (born 2 February 1949) is an Indian

agriculturist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.) is a professional in the Agricultural science, science, practice, and management of Farming, agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, ...

who practiced and wrote many books about Subhash Palekar Natural Farming (previously called Zero Budget Natural Farming). Palekar was born in 1949 in a small village Belora in the

Vidarbha region Vidarbha (Pronunciation: �id̪əɾbʱə is a geographical region in the west Indian state of Maharashtra. Forming the eastern part of the state, it comprises Amravati and Nagpur divisions. As per the 2011 Census, the region had a population ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

in India, and he has an agricultural background. He practised Zero Budget

Natural Farming Natural farming ( 自然農法, shizen nōhō),1975 1978 re-presentation ''The One-Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming''. also referred to as "the Fukuoka Method", "the natural way of farming", or "do-nothing farming", is an ...

without using pesticides to cultivate. He has conducted many workshops all over India and was awarded India's fourth highest civilian award the

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

in 2016

Education and profession

Palekar has a bachelor's degree in agriculture from the Shri Shivaji Agriculture College, Amravati. During college education he was working with tribal people in Satpuda Tribal region. In 1972 he joined the family farm with his father, a natural farmer. Having learned of pesticides and artificial fertilizers at college, Palekar started applying them on his farm. While working from 1972 to 1990, he also wrote many media articles on agriculture, while experimenting with new farming techniques. He was attracted to the philosophy (Indian ancient thinking) of the

Vedas FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of relig ...

Upanishads The Upanishads (; , , ) are late Vedic and post-Vedic Sanskrit texts that "document the transition from the archaic ritualism of the Veda into new religious ideas and institutions" and the emergence of the central religious concepts of Hind ...

, and all ancient Granthas. His Spiritual background was inspired by Saint Dhnyaneshwar, Saint Tukaram and Saint Kabir. Searching for truth, he studied

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British ...

and

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

comparatively. Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence appealed to him more. Prominent Indian personalities like Gandhi, Shivaji, Jyotiba Phule, Vivekananda and Tagore helped reinforce his belief in absolute natural truth and nonviolence (Satya & Ahimsa). From 1972 to 1985, while farming with

Green Revolution The Green Revolution, or the Third Agricultural Revolution, was a period during which technology transfer initiatives resulted in a significant increase in crop yields. These changes in agriculture initially emerged in Developed country , devel ...

chemical inputs, his agricultural production increased. But after this date, yields started declining. After searching the causes for three years he concluded agricultural science was inferior to natural farming methods.

New beginning

While at college, he studied tribal peoples' lifestyles and social structure, and forest ecosystems. He realized the forest does not require human assistance for its existence and growth. The forests have fruit-bearing trees such as

Mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It originated from the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South and Southeast As ...

, Ber,

Tamarind Tamarind (''Tamarindus indica'') is a Legume, leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is indigenous to tropical Africa and naturalized in Asia. The genus ''Tamarindus'' is monotypic taxon, monotypic, meaning that it contains only this spe ...

, Jamulum and Custard Apple which feed the forest inhabitants. Therefore, he embarked on a research on the natural growth of trees. For twenty years studied forest vegetation, and applying forest principles on his farm from 1989 to 1995 in 154 research projects. These provided the basis for Zero Budget Natural Farming, his unique approach to farming involving manures and agroecology. Study materials have been offered to farmers throughout India by means of continuous workshops, seminars, and books in Marathi, Hindi, English, Kannada, Telugu, and Tamil. Thousands of models farms exist throughout India. Palekar was in the editorial team of Bali Raja, a renowned Marathi Agricultural Magazine in Pune, Maharashtra until 1998. He has written more than 20 books in Marathi, 4 books in English, and 3 books in Hindi. All the books in Marathi are to be translated in all Indian languages. His movement has attracted the attention of the media, politicians and thinkers. More than 30 million farmers throughout India are practicing Zero Budget Natural Farming, in parts of

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (; ) is a landlocked States and union territories of India, state in Central India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the List ...

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

and

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

. On 14 June 2017, Sri. Subhash Palekar was appointed as advisor to the state of

on Zero Budget Farming with the aim of encouraging natural farming. The advisor role is equivalent to cabinet rank.

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

state government and

state government is also keen on using Palekar's techniques. Palekar has given presentation to

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

on zero budget natural farming.

Awards

Palekar received fourth highest civilian award

Padma shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

in 2016 from Government of India thus becoming first active Indian farmer to do so.

References

External links

Official site: {{DEFAULTSORT:Palekar, Subhash Indian agronomists Living people 1949 births Recipients of the Padma Shri in other fields 20th-century Indian farmers Organic farming in Asia

Education and profession

New beginning

Awards

See also

References

External links