In 2018, Satya Devi, 50 years old, switched over to Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF)—a drive launched by the Himachal Pradesh(HP) state government to bring an end to the use of harmful chemicals in growing cash crops and fruits including apples. A resident of a small mountain village in Lafughati, 44 km from Shimla, Satya Devi who grows apples, cash crops like peas, tomatoes, potatoes, and cereals, has scripted her own success story as one of the pioneers of the ZBNF in the state.

"I haven’t used any chemicals since 2018. My apples are 100 percent organic, highly nutritious and healthy. I may not be getting the highest price tag because some buyers just go by the colours and artificial shine and are less driven by nutritious value or taste. Still, I make profits because the input cost on chemical sprays is down from Rs 15,000 -18,000 to bare Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000." the 50-year-old boasts.

Jaswinder Kaur, 49, of village Kanshipur near Paonta Sahib, who has motivated 150 other women farmers (now part of cooperative farming), says her income has shot up from Rs 40,000 - 45,000 to Rs one lakh from growing crops like rice and sugarcane. She also owns a small orchard.

“The cost of the input is zero and income is more than double. There are health benefits too. We eat and sell our produce which is totally free from poisons chemicals and pesticides," Kaur said, adding that the 'basmati' rice produced by them sold at Rs 100-plus per kg as compared to Rs 40-50 for others.

 The zero-budget farming strategy has attracted a lot of attention and now even foreigners are turning to Himachal Pradesh to get tips from the farmers.

Devised by Subhash Palekar (Padma Shree awardee) the technique is named the 'Subhash Palekar Natural Farming' (SPNF) in HP. As many as 1,33,056 farmers on 7609 hectares have already adopted it partially or fully after a training organized by the State Project Implementing Unit (SPIU) of the agriculture department.