Talking-up Scotland

(c) India Today

India is losing 5 334 million tons of soil every year due to erosion. Due to this and the high costs of chemical-based agriculture. Thousands of farmers go out of business every year and many of them commit suicide.

Now, 500 000 small-holder farmers will abandon costly, ineffective and damaging modern fertilisers and convert to Climate Resilient Zero Budget Natural Farming (CRZBNF). Without the massive prior investment in fertilisers and pesticides, it becomes possible to recover from crop failures without being trapped in a massive debt cycle.

It is also expected that there will be major health benefits from not being exposed to the toxins in fertilisers and pesticides. Scotland’s James Hutton Institute will:

‘help support the state government in developing a cost-effective, scalable, reporting system to enable the measurement of GHG emissions. Data will also be captured on the other ecological and social-related benefits of moving from chemical-based agricultural systems to CRZBNF.’

The Institute’s reporting and analysis will enable the expansion of the scheme to more than 5 million famers to proceed on a sound scientific basis.

http://www.hutton.ac.uk/news/hutton-expertise-support-12-billion-dollar-indian-initiative-aimed-combating-climate-change

See this rationale for a similar scheme,with a more manageable acronym too:

‘ZBNF ends reliance on purchased inputs and loans for farming, positioning itself as a solution to extreme indebtedness and suicides among Indian farmers. The ZBNF movement has achieved massive scale not only because of effective farming practices, but because of a social movement dynamic – motivating members through discourse, mobilizing resources from allies, self-organized pedagogical activities, charismatic and local leadership, and generating a spirit of volunteerism among its members.’

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03066150.2016.1276450?journalCode=fjps20

This is another example in a growing list of Scottish research teams working to improve conditions in disadvantaged areas across the globe. See:

Scottish Researchers again!

Scottish research first to identify ways of reducing cattle-fart with view to saving the planet

Scottish Association for Marine Science to lead seaweed research to benefit developing nations

Scottish Veterinary researchers working to improve the health and productivity of farmed animals in sub-Saharan Africa.

Scottish university research to help developing nations remove arsenic from water supplies

Two Fife companies revive Soviet Space technology to provide clean water for 100 000 people in Pakistan using Scottish Government grant

Another story for Good Morning Scotland?