10 Business Lessons From Natural Farming

Natural Farming and Us

While I was working on this topic, I came across an article titled “Leading agile transformation: The new capabilities leaders need to build 21st-century organizations”. It was published in October 2018 by Mckinsey & Company and written by Aaron De Smet, Michael Lurie, Andrew St George. I quote one of the paragraphs here “Now, it might be appropriate to explore a new language of leadership: the leader as visionary, architect, coach, and catalyst. For organizations seen as living organisms, the appropriate metaphor might be for the leader to be a gardener — a creative guide and steward who has a nurturing role and a variety of relations with different parts of a garden. For instance, as a gardener, the agile leader might pay attention to creating the fertile soil and environment that will enable growth and creativity to flourish.”

I have been researching on the subject of natural farming and recently did a course at Bhaskar Save’s farm Kalpavruksha near Umergam in my quest to seek some answers. The universe, a forest, a human being are all natural organisations and have survived, adapted & thrived for thousands of years. Whereas most modern artificial organizations like a company struggle to survive beyond few decades. Are there some principles that we can learn from nature, the ultimate teacher?

Kalpavruksha farm is a veritable food forest and a net supplier of water, energy and fertility to the local eco-system, rather than a net consumer. The farm has mixed natural orchard of coconut and chikoo, seasonal field crops, nursery and so on. The farm yield — in all aspects of total quantity, nutritional quality, taste, biological diversity, ecological sustainability, and economic profitability — is superior to any farm using chemicals, while costs (mainly labour for harvesting) are minimal, and external inputs almost zero. Natural farming is holistic and bio-diverse organic farming. In its purest advanced form, it is a ‘do-nothing’ way of farming, where nature does everything, or almost everything.

I shared my insights from this course with my entrepreneur friends only to realize that there is immense learning that the business world can draw from it, especially those that are looking to build organizations that grow, evolve and sustain for many centuries. Most entrepreneurs and top managements operate from cities with urban-industrial exposure and are often disconnected from the nature…which is so well designed, harmonious, seamless, symbiotic, and self healing, efficient and so on.

Here are my 10 Business Lessons from Natural Farming (please also refer the attached image):

1. The top managements ought to be like Sun of their solar system (organizations) and they have to selflessly burn and continuously give warmth & light. Other elements like air (culture), water (process), soil (capital), organisms (stakeholders) are necessary inputs. But fruits & seeds (profits) come last & are best when everything else is in right balance & harmony. Thus, long term view despite short term pain is important.

2. Scientific analysis confirms that approximately 88% of the weight of a plant consists of just carbon and oxygen, equally. Hydrogen, drawn from moisture, is third in the list and contributes about 6% of the plant’s weight. Nitrogen come a distant fourth, contributing between 1–2 per cent of its weight. Less than 5 per cent of the weight of a plant originates in the various other mineral nutrients provided by the soil itself. Thus, trees (company) are actually mitahari, or very small consumers of the nutrients in the soil (capital). Sunlight (owner/ purpose) and air (culture) with water (process) are what they need in abundance. Generally too much significance is given to soil (capital)!

3. Five decades ago, K.M. Munshi, the first Agriculture Minister of free India repeatedly emphasized: Restoring the soil nutrient cycle and hydrological cycle in every village and bio-region is the paramount challenge we face for safeguarding the well-being of this land and her inhabitants! By far the most efficient in conserving and regenerating both our soils and our groundwater — while also mitigating climate change — are our natural forests, and the mixed organic tree-cropping systems.Thus, there is increasing need to take an eco-system (holistic & comprehensive) view while making strategic decisions. The focus should be on creating self sustaining & thriving eco-system and not just extracting fruits (profits) at any cost.

4. Any imbalance will lead to disease & loss of output but short terms solutions like pesticide can’t cure the root cause. On the contrary, they can be murderous to the soil micro-fauna, earthworms, etc. which are critical for natural tilling and may further lead to damage of the porous granular structure of the soil and expel all the air & moisture from it. Wisdom beats knowledge and it may not always be good to “Just Do It”. Quick fix solutions or things that are told, sold & bold may not always be right for you … the big picture view coupled with intuition and own experiments matter a lot more.

5. The Upanishads say “This creation is whole and complete; from the whole emerge creations, each whole and complete; Take the whole from the whole, the whole yet remains; undiminished, complete!” The super specialization after the industrial revolution has created a ‘Hole in the Whole’. A wholesome person or a unit is much more scalable & replicable for growth & sustainability.

6. Most of the external & costly inputs like fertilizers & pesticides may not necessarily be needed and can even do damage. Thus, be careful before committing to temporary jargons & trends that don’t help in organisation building. For e.g. adding a nitrogenous fertilizer hastens the process of decomposition and depletes the soil’s fibrous cushion of organic matter, thereby increasing the susceptibility of the soil to erosion and the leaching of nutrients. The toxic chemicals harm the organic life of the soil. Artificial tillage and irrigation needs are increased; ‘pests’ multiply. With spraying, they soon develop resistance to the pesticides, leading to the use of stronger poisons. But the natural predators of the pests get wiped out. Helpful pollinating agents like the bees are similarly exterminated. Micronutrient deficiencies and plant ‘diseases’ increase in incidence; while toxic residues in the food harvested reach dangerous levels. Where before, everything worked smoothly in Nature, man’s ‘cleverness’ now brings upon him a lot more work and worry.

7. There are many simple, cheap & easy mechanisms to monitor the health of the organisation like Croton water meters. You don’t always need costly technology & complex systems for simple things that basic human senses can decipher well by just walking around and observing. It also helps to build relationships!

8. Not all weeds (like critics) are enemies and they can also be useful friends, so live & let live but be conscious. Not everything that shines & looks polished is actually so for e.g. mulching is important for nutrient & irrigation but might appear so messy. The thick ground cover (mulching) is an excellent moderator of the soil’s micro-climate. “On a hot summer day, it keeps the surface of the soil cool and slightly damp. During cold winter nights, it is like a blanket conserving the warmth gained during the day. Humidity too is higher and evaporation is greatly reduced. Consequently, irrigation needs are very low. The many little insect friends and micro-organisms of the soil thrive under these conditions.”

9. Gandhi declared, “Where there is shoshan (extraction/ oppression), there can be no poshan (regeneration/ nurture)”. Reminds Save, “Children have a birth-right to suckle the sweet, wholesome milk from their mother’s bosom! But tragically, our modern, rapacious way of farming, rampant industrialism and consumerist culture draw on Mother Earth’s life-blood and flesh. How then can we hope to receive her continuing nourishment?” The principle of perennial fertility regeneration (humans have a right to only the fruits & seeds and the balance crop residue must go back to the soil), applies while managing human & other resources in an organisation.

10. Monoculture & cash crops rob the soil of its key nutrient from the same place continuously and increases need for fertilizers. Thus, diversity by reverting to mixed cropping can help substantially. Any pronounced ‘nutrient deficiency’ in the topsoil often caused by cash-cropping monocultures can be corrected in few years by reverting to mixed cropping. The same applies while managing, training & developing the mix of employees.

Like a pure form of ‘do-nothing natural farming’ can be attained in a mature tree crop system, an organisation can take lessons from nature farming for its sustainable growth by building a vibrant & thriving eco system. After all, we all are part of the nature and need to respect its superior intelligence & wisdom

While the above lessons can be of use to corporate world, it is important to know what Natural Farming is to get a complete & objective understanding.

What Is Natural Farming?

“Who planted the great, ancient forests? Who tilled the land? Who provided seed, manure, irrigation, or protection from pests?” asks Bhaskar Save. “In our forests, untended by man, the food trees — jujube, jambolan, mango, wild fig, butter tree, tamarind, jungle sapota — yield so abundantly in their season, that the branches sag with the weight of the fruit. The annual fruit yield per tree is commonly over a tonne, year after year, carried away by forest dwellers, including man. But the earth around each tree remains whole and undiminished. There is no gaping hole in the ground! If anything, the soil is richer. From where do the trees — including those on rocky mountains — get their water, their nitrogen, phosphorous, potash?

Though stationary, Nature provides their needs right where they stand. Our ancient sages understood Nature’s ways far better than most modern day technologists. There is on earth, a constant inter-play of the six paribals (key factors) of Nature, interacting with sunlight. Three are: air, water and soil. Working in tandem with these, are the three orders of life: vanaspati srushti (plants); jeev srushti (insects & micro-organisms); and prani srushti (animals). These six paribals maintain a dynamic balance. Together, they harmonise Nature’s grand symphony — mystic grace!

Man has no right to disrupt any of the paribals of Nature. But modern technology, wedded to commerce — rather than compassion — has proved disastrous at all levels. We have despoiled and polluted the soil, water and air. We have wiped out most of our forests and killed its creatures. And relentlessly, modern farmers spray deadly poisons on their fields, massacring Nature’s jeev srushti, or micro-organisms and insects — the unpretentious, but tireless little fertility workers that maintain the vital, ventilated quality of the soil, recycling all life-ebbed biomass into nourishment for plants. The noxious chemicals also inevitably poison the water, and Nature’s prani srushti or animal kingdom, including humans.

Chemical Vs Organic

Bhaskar Save lists 18 major points of difference between chemical farming and organic farming in harmony with nature. He also mentions the four fundamental principles of natural farming. He summarizes the key practical aspects of his approach to natural farming with reference to the five major areas of activity that are commonly a preoccupation of farmers all over the world.

(i) Tillage — Tillage in the case of tree-crops is only permissible as a one-time intervention to loosen the soil before planting the saplings or seeds. Post planting, the work of maintaining the porosity and aeration of the soil should be left entirely to the organisms; soil-dwelling creatures’ likes earthworms and plant roots in the earth. They together maintain & nurture the entire web of life which gets negatively impacted with excessive use of tractors.

(ii) Fertility Inputs — The recycling of all crop residues and biomass on the farm is an imperative for ensuring its continued fertility. Where farm-derived biomass is scarce, initial external provision of organic inputs is helpful. However, no chemical fertilizer whatsoever should be used. Every creature — in excretion and in death — is an integral part of the continuous fertility cycle of nature.

(iii) Weeding — Weeding too should be avoided. It is only if the weeds tend to overgrow the crops, blocking off sunlight, that they may be controlled by cutting and mulching, rather than by uprooting for ‘clean cultivation’. Herbicides, of course, should never be used.

(iv) Irrigation — Irrigation should be conservative, no more than what is required for maintaining the dampness of the soil. Complete vegetative cover — preferably multi-storied — and mulching greatly reduce water needs. There is far less need to dig bore wells and construct dams.

(v) Crop Protection — Crop protection may be left entirely to the natural processes of biological control by naturally occurring predators. Poly-cultures of healthy, organically grown crops in healthy soil have a high resistance to pest attack. Any damage is usually minimal, and self-limiting. At most, some non-chemical measures like the use of neem, diluted desi cow urine, etc may be resorted to. But this too is ultimately unnecessary.

By thus returning to Nature many of the tasks that were originally hers, a weighty burden slips off the back of the half-broken, modern day farmer. And the land begins to regenerate once more.

Most of the details about Natural Farming are taken from the book ‘The Vision of Natural Farming’ by Earthcare Books, written by my friend Bharat Mansata.