Reframing the Narrative on Natural Farming Yields and Income - Insights from a Baseline Survey in Madhya Pradesh, India

A comprehensive baseline survey of 1,776 farmers was conducted under a programme to scale up natural farming practices across 11 agro-ecological zones in Madhya Pradesh. This provided a unique opportunity to study farms at different stages of transition, including chemical, non-pesticide management (NPM) and organic farms. Unlike previous comparative studies that focus on monocropping, we adopt a methodology for assessing multi-cropping system, which is a key feature of natural farming. Fresh insights reveal that at certain levels of organic input use, the aggregate yield of organic farms matches or exceeds that of chemical farms. However, most organic farms apply inputs below this range. A significant portion of chemical farms’ net income is attributable to fertiliser subsidies, and when this subsidy is deducted, organic farms often have a higher net income. Further, the study highlights that the adoption of natural farming is not a simple binary choice but rather a gradient shaped by the level of agro-ecological practice adoption and organic input application, both of which directly influence farm performance. Although standardisation is not encouraged in natural farming, our findings suggest that setting benchmarks for input quantities and composition could establish useful adoption thresholds, aiding farmers in their transition to natural farming.