Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Environmental Challenges

Abstract

A revolutionary transformation is underway in agricultural systems, with Natural Farming (NF) being promoted as an agrochemical-free, agroecological alternative to conventional Chemical Farming (CF) in several states of India. To assess the successful adoption of NF among smallholder farming systems in the Himalayan region, this study was conducted in Himachal Pradesh, India. Primary data were collected from 360 randomly selected farmers across six districts using a simple random sampling technique. The study mainly focused on the marginal and small farmers, because 80% of farmers in state are marginal and small. The study evaluated the comparative economics NF and CF, corelation and regression of input variables on output, NF factors productivity and input response of NF. This study found that all identified NF farmers practice mixed farming (livestock integrated with crops) and intercropping (cultivating two or more crops on the same piece of land), whereas CF farmers predominantly followed mixed farming (livestock integrated) but intensive monocropping systems. The study revealed that NF inputs exhibited greater efficiency in generating yield returns, whereas most of CF inputs were relatively overutilized and showed an insignificant contribution to yield returns. The adoption factors were low cost of production (Garret rank 1st), and the 2nd rank was locally available resources, followed by soil health enhancement (rank 3rd), increase in yield (rank 4th), and less irrigation requirement (rank 5th). The finding suggested NF may offer opportunity to reduce the chemical inputs use and improved resource use efficiency which later may enhance the soil fertility, biodiversity and environmental resilience.

DOI

10.1016/j.envc.2026.101668

Publication Date

9-2026

Language

eng

Rights

open access

Comments

This is a PDF of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form. As such, this version is no longer the Accepted Manuscript, but it is not yet the definitive Version of Record; we are providing this early version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that Elsevier’s sharing policy for the Published Journal Article applies to this version, see: https://www.elsevier.com/about/ policies-and-standards/sharing#4-published-journal-article. Please also note that, during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain

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