Natural Farming Through a Wide Angle Lens: True Cost Accounting Study of Community-Managed Natural Farming in Andhra Pradesh, India
This study compared the impacts of APCNF with three other farming systems in Andhra Pradesh: chemical farming in the Godavari delta region, rainfed farming in the semi-arid region, and low-input tribal farming in the mountain region.
The results show strong evidence that APCNF offers a better alternative to the existing farming systems. Adopting APCNF led to greater crop diversity, similar or higher yields, higher incomes for farmers, lower input costs, improved local economies, improved social networks, improved health, and reduced health costs. Overall, APCNF gave highly positive returns
on public investment, suggesting APCNF to be the food production system with better economic, environmental, and social outcomes.
Importantly, this study shows that natural farming and agroecological transitions can comfortably feed communities with better yields and crop diversity than conventional farming methods, with important insights for policy makers in India and globally.