Aug 2026· Annual Research & Review in Biology· 0 citations
Abstract
Natural farming has moved from a group of locally adapted, low-external-input practices to a prominent agricultural policy proposition, particularly in India. Its appeal rests on the linked aims of reducing dependence on purchased agrochemicals, rebuilding soil biological function, maintaining crop production and improving farm profitability. Yet the label encompasses heterogeneous systems, and evidence for particular components is often stronger than evidence for the complete package. This critical narrative review examines natural farming as an agroecological redesign strategy, with emphasis on crop productivity, soil health, nutrient sufficiency, water relations, biodiversity, farm economics and implementation at scale. Literature available from 1990 to 5 June 2026 was identified through accessible scholarly indexes, bibliographic searches, institutional sources and citation tracing. Direct comparative evidence from Indian natural-farming programmes was integrated with higher-level evidence on organic amendments, soil cover, reduced disturbance, crop diversification and microbial inoculation. The strongest and most transferable support concerns permanent or frequent soil cover, organic-matter return, diversified rotations and intercrops, and reduced reliance on broad-spectrum pesticides. These practices can improve soil aggregation, moisture retention, microbial biomass and several regulating ecosystem services. Direct field studies in south-eastern India indicate that well-managed natural farming can maintain or increase yields and reduce production costs in some settings, while recent landscape evidence shows comparable yields, higher profits and improved farmland bird abundance. Confidence is nevertheless moderated by short experimental duration, treatment bundles that prevent attribution to individual practices, uneven geographical coverage and limited nutrient budgets. Biological activity cannot create phosphorus, potassium or other exported elements, and nitrogen supply may become constraining in high-yielding systems without legumes, recycled biomass or other accountable sources. Natural farming is therefore best understood as context-specific ecological intensification rather than universal input elimination. Credible scaling requires phased transition, soil- and crop-specific nutrient accounting, independent long-term trials, multidimensional monitoring and adaptive safeguards for farmers whose production systems have high nutrient demand.
Organic and natural farming are increasingly promoted as responses to the coupled crises of climate change, soil degradation and input dependence. Yet their climate-smart credentials are frequently asserted from labels or individual practices rather than evaluated across productivity, adaptation and mitigation, with food-system and distributional effects made explicit. This critical narrative review synthesises peer-reviewed evidence published from 1990 to 5 June 2026, with earlier foundational material retained where necessary. It distinguishes regulated organic agriculture from heterogeneous natural-farming movements and evaluates both through a climate-smart framework. Organic systems generally enhance soil biological activity, on-farm biodiversity and input-use efficiency, and they can improve water regulation and yield stability where rotations, cover crops, organic amendments and diversified habitats are well designed. They also avoid most synthetic nitrogen fertiliser and pesticide inputs. These advantages do not translate automatically into lower climate impacts: average yield gaps, uncertain additionality and permanence of soil carbon, manure-related nitrous oxide, nutrient import dependence and land-use displacement can offset field-level gains. Evidence for natural farming is promising but geographically concentrated, especially in India; recent farm studies report competitive yields, lower purchased-input costs and biodiversity benefits, whereas modelling warns of nutrient constraints during large-scale conversion. The decisive unit of analysis is therefore the farming system in its landscape, dietary and nutrient-cycling context, not the production label. Climate-smart transitions should combine practice bundles with outcome-based measurement, region-specific nutrient budgets, safeguards against leakage, farmer-centred learning and policies that reward public goods without shifting risk to labour-constrained or resource-poor households. The review concludes that organic and natural farming can make substantial contributions to climate-smart agriculture, but only conditionally and as components of broader food-system transformation.
Kunal Narwal, Dharmender Singh, Akanksha Sharma et al.· Journal of Experimental Agri...· 0 citations
This project delves into the concept of organic farming as an environmentally friendly and sustainable alternative to conventional agricultural practices. With growing concerns over the adverse effects of chemical-based farming on health, soil, and biodiversity, organic farming presents a promising solution. The study covers the principles, methods, and advantages of organic farming, including natural composting, crop rotation, and biological pest control. A special focus has been given to the work of Padma Shri Bharat Bhushan Tyagi, a renowned Indian organic farmer, whose innovative SAMAK (Sah-Astitva Moolak Aavartansheel Krishi) model emphasizes crop diversity, ecological balance, and sustainable soil use. As part of the research, a field visitwas conducted to his organic farm in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh. Observations and interviews from the visit provided firsthand insights into how traditional wisdom and modern organic methods can coexist to achieve productivity, profitability, and sustainability. The findings highlight that organic farming not only preserves environmental resources but also enhances long-term soil health and offers economic resilience to farmers. The project concludes with recommendations to promote organic practices through education, policy support, and community-driven efforts.
Restoring soil health, boosting biodiversity, strengthening ecosystem resilience, and boosting carbon sequestration while preserving agricultural productivity are the goals of regenerative agriculture, an integrated land-management strategy. Regenerative agriculture, in contrast to traditional sustainable methods, concentrates on using ecological processes to replenish soil organic matter and biological activity. Because they emphasize biological nutrient cycle and reduce synthetic inputs, organic and natural farming systems are significant elements of this larger regenerative framework. In India, methods like Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) and Organic Farming have drawn interest due to their potential to lower production costs, enhance soil quality, and advance sustainable agriculture. Research carried out in India under natural farming efforts has shown notable increases in soil organic carbon and microbial activity, as well as yield improvements of 20–40% on degraded soils. Crop rotation, green manuring, composting, and biological pest control are examples of organic farming techniques that enhance soil structure and long-term production. This study looks at how natural and organic agricultural methods fit into the larger idea of regenerative agriculture. The study assesses their effects on soil health, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable crop production using a qualitative review of secondary literature. The results show that combining organic and natural farming methods with regenerative principles can greatly improve soil carbon sequestration, boost climate-resilient farming systems, and increase agricultural sustainability.
B. Ramanjaneyulu, Annu Rani· AgriBio Innovations· 0 citations
Organic and conventional farming systems represent two major agricultural approaches adopted worldwide to meet the growing demand for food while addressing concerns related to environmental sustainability, soil health, and agricultural productivity. Conventional farming primarily depends on synthetic fertilizers, chemical pesticides, herbicides, and intensive cultivation practices to maximize crop yield. In contrast, organic farming emphasizes ecological balance through the use of organic manures, compost, crop rotation, biological pest management, and conservation of biodiversity. Although conventional agriculture generally achieves higher short-term yields, its long-term dependence on chemical inputs has raised concerns regarding soil degradation, biodiversity loss, groundwater contamination, and declining soil fertility. Organic farming offers several environmental advantages by improving soil organic matter, enhancing microbial diversity, increasing nutrient cycling, and reducing chemical pollution, but it may face challenges related to lower yields and greater labor requirements under certain conditions. This study presents a comparative assessment of organic and conventional farming systems with particular emphasis on crop performance and soil health. It examines the principles and characteristics of both farming systems, evaluates their influence on crop productivity, soil physical, chemical, and biological properties, analyzes technological innovations supporting sustainable agriculture, and discusses future policy directions for promoting resilient agricultural systems. The study concludes that integrating the strengths of both farming approaches through scientifically balanced management practices can improve agricultural productivity while conserving natural resources. Sustainable farming strategies supported by technological innovation, farmer education, and effective policy interventions are essential for ensuring long-term food security, environmental conservation, and resilient agricultural development.
Research Author· Europian Journal of Agricult...· 0 citations
India's agricultural economy faces a distinctive precision-farming problem: the technologies that can measure and manage field variability are advancing rapidly, while the institutional conditions needed to convert technical precision into durable farm and agribusiness value remain uneven. This critical narrative review evaluates precision farming as a decision system rather than a collection of devices, with particular attention to Indian smallholder conditions, resource-use efficiency, farm economics, service delivery and environmental performance. Literature published from 1 January 2000 to 14 June 2026 was examined through accessible scholarly indexes, agricultural databases and authoritative Indian institutional sources. The requested descriptive meta-analytical element was implemented as structured comparison of reported effect directions and magnitudes; statistical pooling was not undertaken because interventions, crops, comparators, outcomes and study designs were too heterogeneous for a defensible common effect estimate. The evidence is strongest for scale-compatible practices that translate measurement directly into management, including precision land levelling, sensor- or threshold-guided nitrogen management, drip fertigation and targeted application technologies. These approaches frequently maintain or increase yield while reducing irrigation water or fertiliser requirements, although the magnitude and persistence of benefit are context dependent. By contrast, remote sensing, machine learning and digital advisories have strong diagnostic potential but weaker causal evidence for income or yield gains at scale. Large observational and modelling datasets reveal substantial scope for site-specific management, yet modelled opportunity should not be conflated with realised farmer benefit. India's small and fragmented holdings make capital-intensive ownership models difficult to generalise; custom hiring, farmer collectives and service-based delivery can improve asset utilisation but introduce quality, interoperability and governance requirements. The review concludes that India's most credible pathway is not technology maximalism but frugal, service-enabled precision: reliable measurement, locally calibrated decision rules, affordable execution and independent outcome evaluation. Future research should prioritise multi-season causal trials, whole-farm economics, environmental outcomes, interoperability, data governance and distributional effects across farm sizes, regions and gendered access to services.
Divya Bollagani, Kuldeep Chowdhary, Chowdula Shireesha· Journal of global agricultur...· 0 citations
Carbon farming has moved from a soil-management concept to a prominent climate-policy proposition, yet the agronomic value of building soil organic carbon and the credibility of soil carbon as a durable climate-removal pathway are not identical questions. This critical narrative review evaluates carbon farming as an integrated strategy for soil carbon sequestration, nutrient management and climate resilience. The literature was selected from accessible scholarly indexes and disciplinary databases, supplemented by citation chaining and authoritative source verification, with emphasis on field experiments, long-term trials, meta-analyses, mechanistic soil-carbon studies and work on measurement, reporting and verification. Evidence indicates that practices which increase carbon inputs, reduce avoidable carbon losses and improve biological nutrient cycling can rebuild depleted soil organic carbon, particularly where initial stocks are low and management constraints are substantial. Cover crops, diversified rotations, organic amendments, agroforestry and context-appropriate biochar generally show stronger or more interpretable carbon benefits than simple claims based on reduced tillage alone. Benefits for nutrient retention, aggregation, rooting conditions and yield stability are plausible and often observed, but vary with climate, soil texture and mineralogy, baseline fertility, water regime, residue availability and the duration of management. Carbon gains are finite, reversible and vulnerable to sampling artefacts; transferring manure or crop residues between locations can also create apparent project gains without equivalent net atmospheric removal. Credible carbon farming therefore requires whole-system greenhouse-gas accounting, explicit treatment of additionality and permanence, consistent soil-depth and bulk-density protocols, and conservative crediting. The strongest case for carbon farming is consequently not as a universal substitute for emissions reduction, but as a geographically targeted form of soil restoration that can deliver climate mitigation alongside agronomic and resilience co-benefits when carbon accounting is rigorous and nutrient trade-offs are managed.
Suneel Kumar, Devesh Pathak, Navneet Kumar Mishra et al.· Archives of Current Research...· 0 citations
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