This document discusses natural farming practices in Andhra Pradesh, India that harness water through maintaining year-round soil cover. Some key points: 1. Natural farming practices in Andhra Pradesh involve maintaining a green cover of diverse crops 365 days per year to build soil health, enhance water retention and availability, and increase crop resilience with minimal external inputs. 2. The program now involves over 600,000 farmers and has significantly increased incomes while reducing costs of cultivation through conserving and harnessing additional water sources like atmospheric water vapor. 3. Maintaining living roots and organic soil cover allows natural farming systems to optimize water utilization by reducing evaporation, runoff and increasing infiltration, storage, and deep soil water access through

1. UN 2023 Water conference - a new win-win paradigm for harnessing water through farming in
harmony with nature – lessons from AP community managed natural farming , INDIA
Vision 2031 - all 6.0 million farmer households and 6.0 million Ha of farmland
Vijay Kumar Thallam
Executive Vice Chairman, Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (RySS), Govt of AP
vjthallam@gmail.com

2. APCNF - Farming in harmony with nature
What is Natural farming ?
It is a holistic land
management practice that
leverages the power of
photosynthesis in plants to
close the carbon cycle,
build soil health,
crop resilience,
nutrient density, and,
enable water availability

3. Universal Principles of Natural farming
Soil to be covered with crops - 365 days of the year (living roots)
Diverse crops, including trees (15-20)
Integrate animals into farming
Minimum disturbance of soil
Mimicking
Nature
Bio-stimulants as catalysts to trigger soil biology
Increase amount crop residue and other organic residue in the soil
Farmers own seeds or indigenous seeds
Pest management through better agronomical practices
No synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, weedicides

4. The scale of the programme at a glance
Largest Natural farming programme in the country, in terms of farmers participating
86% - small and marginal
farmers 1 ha per capita
Number of farmers in
2021 - increased 15x
Number of villages
increased 5x
Transformation driven by –
• more than 10,000 champion farmers and their
mentors
• 200,000 women self help groups and their
federations
• Research support – national and global
• Govt ownership and support
Plan
16% of farmers
7.5 % of area
27% of villages
10% of farmers
4% of area
2020-21 2021-22 2022-23
2016-17
480,000 farmers
3730 (v)
630,000 farmers 1,060,000 farmers
3730 (v)
460,000 Ha
40,656 farmers
704 (v) 3730 (v)
290,000 Ha
220,000 Ha
1. Transition of a farmer – 3 to 5 years
2. No cash incentives during
transition, and, Funds: Govt, KfW Bank – 235 million USD upto 2024
3. No promises of market premia
Grants: 1. Azim Premji Philanthropy – 20 million USD upto 2027

5. Economic NF PLOT
• Cost of cultivation - significant reduction - NF costs are much lower
than non-NF, across all crops
• Yield differences are not significant between NF and Non-NF farms
• Significant increase in net income for NF farmers
APCNF IMPACTS
Resilience
Water savings
• Improved soil porosity
• Increased bio diversity
Conventional Plot

6. Harnessing water through enhancing soil biology
Soil Aeration
• Greater water
infiltration
• Greater water holding
• Water vapour
harvested for
irrigation ( 50,000
ppm of water in the
air)

7. Harnessing water from the air
2 minutes video on
harnessing water
from air:
https://youtu.be/Azm
Xb9Kwr04

8. Scaling up of Pre – Monsoon Dry Sowing breakthrough – harnessing water from the air
PMDS
2018
Rabi Dry
Sowing
2018
PMDS 2019 PMDS 2020 P.M.D.S
2021
P.M.D.S
2022
Number of
farmers 11 (Pilot) 1383
885
21,635
13,068
103,340
80,409
348,000
353,000
600,700
608,700
Area
covered (in 11 acres
acres)

9. Multiple sources of water triggered by 365 days green cover and natural farming
Water in the air
- upto 50,000
ppm
H20
After shoot emergence – harvesting
water vapour - condensation of
dew/mist
Crop residue mulch –
reduces water
evaporation
For germination
- Biological water
from Bio
stimulant and
mulch
For germination and plant
growth -Uptake from soil
films – below wilting point
H20
Surface water
Mycorrhyzal
fungal
Greater porosity – roots can
explore deeper water and
fungal hyphae can draw from
soil film – in dry spell
extensions
Deep water

10. A new water paradigm - natural farming enables optimization
of wa tion Back to atmosphere
36 drops
transpiration and green
growth
86 drops?
100 rain on soils
Natural farming enables
better utilization of water
that is being wasted and in
addition harnesses water
from the air
50 drops
run-off /
evaporation
2 drops stored
in dams
12 drops in
streams

11. Natural farming : a new paradigm for water
APCNF changes the paradigm where we look at agriculture only as ‘consumers’
of water. Natural farming shows that ‘agriculture’ produces water and
consumes water.
Natural farming:
Creates ‘new’ water – harnessing water from the air ( never seen as a resource for crop
growth)
Reduces evaporation losses – the 365 days green cover and crop residue mulching reduces
evaporation losses
Reduces water runoff – greater soil porosity reduces water and soil runoff
Increases water holding – increases in soil organic matter increase water holding capacities

12. Natural farming and 365 days green cover can cool the planet
Global
warming:
Re-
radiated
heat – an
imp cause
NF + 365
DGC
Reversal of
desertification
140
deg F
Soil / Water
conservation
70 deg
F
Food and
nutrition
security
Income
generation

13. “..We do not inherit the earth from our
ancestors, we borrow it from our
children..”
LET US ALL ACT NOW
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