Livestock: The Living Engine Of Natural Farming.

Agartala, Tripura, 28th of August, 2026 : Decades of dependence on synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and costly external inputs have delivered short-term productivity gains but have also degraded soil health, depleted groundwater, and left farmer incomes stagnant despite rising cultivation costs. Natural farming has emerged as a widely discussed alternative — a chemical-free, low-cost, ecologically grounded system that seeks to restore the biological vitality of the soil while reducing farmers’ dependence on purchased inputs. What distinguishes natural farming from most other alternative agricultural movements is the centrality it assigns to livestock. Far from being a peripheral enterprise conducted alongside crop cultivation, animal rearing functions as the engine that drives the entire system. Cattle supply the dung, urine, and associated biological material from which the core inputs of natural farming — Jeevamrit, Beejamrit, and Ghanjeevamrit — are prepared. This article reflects the roles livestock perform within natural farming: their biological function in soil regeneration, their contribution to farm operations and household economics, the importance of indigenous cattle breeds, the supporting policy architecture, and the constraints limiting wider adoption.

Conceptual Framework: Livestock at the Centre of Natural Farming

Natural farming is generally described as a diversified, agro-ecology-based system that integrates crops, trees, and livestock, resting on four pillars — cow dung and urine-based inputs (Paanchkavya, Beejamrit, Jeevamrit, Ghanjeevamrit etc), intercropping, mulching, and whapasa (limited soil moisture management). The underlying premise is that a properly functioning agro-ecosystem does not require purchased fertilizers: plants are held to derive roughly 98 % of their nutrients from air, water, and sunlight, with only the remaining fraction supplied by soil rich in beneficial microorganisms. Livestock supply and continually replenish that fraction. Where crop-only organic systems must import compost or biofertilizer from outside the farm, a livestock-integrated unit generates its principal soil inputs on-site, from animals simultaneously producing milk, meat, or draught services — making the farm a closed-loop system in which little of biological value leaves the farm boundary unused.

The Biological Basis: Livestock-Derived Bioformulations:

Livestock-derived bioformulations are natural inputs prepared from cattle by-products — dung, urine, milk, curd, and ghee — used in cow-based natural farming (CBNF) as biofertilizers, biopesticides, and growth promoters. Key formulations include Panchagavya (five-ingredient fermented tonic), Jeevamrit (dung-urine-jaggery microbial inoculant for soil health), Beejamrit (seed treatment against soil pathogens), and botanical extracts like Neemastra and Dashaparni Ark (urine-based biopesticides). These formulations enhance soil microbial activity, plant growth, and pest resistance while reducing chemical input dependency.

Panchagavya prepared from five cow-derived ingredients — dung, urine, milk, curd, and ghee, fermented together over several days — has similarly moved from ritual usage to molecular validation. Metagenomic decoding of Panchagavya’s microbiome has been used to elucidate its bacterial community structure, revealing consortia responsible for its plant-growth-promoting and induced systemic resistance activity. 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing of Panchagavya identified Streptomyces griseocarneus, Clostridiales, Bacteroidales, and Verrucomicrobia species as dominant taxa, with functional analysis predicting several hundred metabolic pathways spanning carbohydrate metabolism and secondary metabolite synthesis Fermentation duration itself shapes efficacy. Comparative work across formulation types has also found Panchagavya carries higher total nutrient and IAA content than Jeevamrutham and Beejamrutham, while microbial populations peak roughly 24 days after preparation before declining — a finding directly relevant to shelf-life standardization for entrepreneurship-scale production.

Beejamrit, a seed-treatment formulation of cow dung, cow urine, and forest soil (often with limestone), is traditionally used to incubate seed overnight before sowing. Field and laboratory studies indicate that Jeevamrit and Beejamrit application improves soil fertility and plant development, lowering dependence on purchased agrochemicals while improving the benefit-cost ratio of cultivation.

Jeevamrit, often called the single most important natural farming input, is prepared by fermenting cattle dung and urine with jaggery, pulse flour, and a small quantity of native soil, which introduces the field’s own microbial inoculum. One metagenomic and soil-chemistry study tracking a Zero Budget Natural Farming field over three years recorded increases in soil organic carbon, available phosphorus, and available potassium of up to 46, 439, and 142 percent respectively, alongside gains in micronutrients such as zinc, iron, copper, and manganese. Proteobacteria dominated the treated soils’ bacterial community, with genes linked to amino-acid and carbohydrate metabolism — processes tied to fertility, growth, and plant defence — strongly represented.

Ghanjeevamrit, a concentrated, semi-solid variant, has recently been characterised through multi-omics analysis. A 2026 study combining 16S rRNA metagenomics with metabolomics found that Jeevamrit and Ghanjeevamrit harbour diverse, functionally rich microbial communities associated with nutrient cycling and plant growth promotion, with several hundred distinct metabolites identified in each. Comparative work across cattle breeds found that formulations from the indigenous Pahari breed recorded the highest nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium values and the highest microbial counts among breeds tested, while related microbiological work identified isolates capable of phosphate solubilisation and suppression of major soil-borne fungal pathogens. Together, this evidence indicates that benefits long attributed to cattle-based inputs are increasingly traceable to identifiable microbial and biochemical mechanisms rather than resting on tradition alone.

In functional terms: Beejamrit protects germinating seed and enhances early vigour; Jeevamrit and Ghanjeevamrit act at the standing-crop stage as biofertilizers that stimulate microbial activity and improve nutrient uptake; mulching complements both by conserving moisture and reducing erosion.

     Soil Health, Nutrient Cycling, and Crop Performance

Continuous, low-volume application of dung- and urine-based inputs introduces organic carbon and a diverse microbial inoculum to the soil on a recurring basis, unlike the periodic, bulk application typical of composted manure or chemical fertilizer. The agronomic picture, however, is more nuanced than early proponents suggested: one 2026 study noted that earlier work had found wheat yield reductions of up to 59.4 percent under natural farming compared with conventional systems, with results varying by crop, even as its own findings showed comparable yields under both systems. Critically, the same study found that the economic viability of natural farming was strongly conditional on livestock access — farmers who owned a cow and could prepare inputs on-farm achieved net returns and benefit-cost ratios comparable to or higher than conventional farming, chiefly by avoiding input-purchase costs. This ties the economic case for natural farming directly to cattle access rather than to input savings alone.

 Draught Power and Household Economics

Beyond biofertilizer preparation, livestock retain their traditional operational role, particularly in hill and rainfed systems where mechanisation is constrained by terrain, landholding size, or cost. Draught cattle continue to perform tillage, transport, and haulage, reducing dependence on diesel-powered machinery. This complements rather than competes with the soil-fertility role: the same animal that supplies dung and urine for Jeevamrit may also plough the field into which it is later applied, while crop residues and fodder by-products feed the animal in turn — closing the nutrient loop at household level. Milk and milk products further diversify household income along a track largely independent of the crop cycle, making integrated crop-livestock systems generally more resilient to shocks than crop-only systems of comparable scale.

Indigenous Cattle Breeds: The Preferred Biological Engine

A consistent theme across the literature and official guidance is the preference for indigenous or Desi  cattle over exotic or crossbred cattle as the source of dung and urine. Guidance holds that the natural farming system requires cow dung and urine from Indian-breed cows specifically, with the Desi cow considered the purest source in terms of microbial content — a preference increasingly borne out by comparative data showing higher nutrient and microbial values from indigenous breeds than from exotic breeds.

This has direct implications for the Northeast Hill states, where locally adapted indigenous breeds — Thutho cattle in Nagaland, Manipuri cattle in Manipur, and Zobawng cattle in Mizoram, Siri Cattle in Sikkim, Masilum cattle in Meghalaya, Balang cattle in Arunachal Pradesh — have historically been maintained by tribal and smallholder communities under low-input, largely free-ranging management. These breeds represent both a genetic resource for conservation and a practical, locally available biological engine for natural farming input preparation. Integrating their conservation with cow-based natural farming (CBNF) promotion therefore serves a dual purpose: safeguarding genetic diversity while strengthening the regional input base for chemical-free agriculture.

Policy Architecture

In November 2024, the Union Cabinet approved the National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF) as a standalone Centrally Sponsored Scheme under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, with an outlay of Rs. 2,481 crore, targeting one crore farmers across roughly 15,000 clusters. Its components include model demonstration farms and dedicated bio-input resource centres, with training explicitly oriented around the preparation of cattle-based formulations, including structured workshops on Beejamrit and Jeevamrit preparation and more.

Running alongside it, the Rashtriya Gokul Mission addresses the livestock side directly, focusing on conservation and genetic development of indigenous breeds through selective breeding and scientific management, and establishing Gokul Grams — integrated indigenous cattle centres serving as in-situ conservation sites. Together, the two missions form a two-pronged architecture: one builds farmer capacity to use livestock-derived inputs, the other secures the indigenous cattle population those inputs depend on — a convergence of considerable relevance to institutions engaged in indigenous cattle conservation and CBNF promotion at the state and district level.

 Constraints and Challenges

Livestock-integrated natural farming faces several practical constraints. Livestock dependency is itself a limitation in households without adequate cattle holdings; Government assessments explicitly note that dependence on cow-based inputs is difficult to sustain in areas that are not traditionally cattle-rearing regions. The approach also remains knowledge-intensive, requiring sustained farmer training, since preparation, timing, and application of bioformulations demand technical understanding that does not transfer automatically from conventional practice — weak training infrastructure produces inconsistent input quality. Scientific standardisation is still developing: systematic characterisation of the microbiome and metabolome of these inputs remains limited, and comparisons between standardised and farmer preparations remain rare, even though farmer practice is known to introduce variability that affects field performance. Finally, agronomic evidence on yield outcomes remains mixed rather than uniformly positive, underlining the need for locally calibrated trials rather than blanket extrapolation before recommending natural farming at scale in a new region.

Conclusion

Livestock occupy a position in natural farming best described as that of a living engine. They supply the raw material for Beejamrit, Jeevamrit, Ghanjeevamrit,and more formulations increasingly shown to carry functionally active microbial communities that improve nutrient availability, suppress soil-borne pathogens, and help crops withstand abiotic stress. They continue to provide draught power where mechanisation remains limited and diversify household income through milk, stabilising farm livelihoods against crop-related risk. Indigenous cattle breeds appear biologically best suited to this role — a finding of direct relevance to the Northeast Hill states, where Thutho, Manipuri, and Zobawng cattle, Siri Cattle, Masilum cattle, Balang cattle etc  represent both a conservation priority and a practical foundation for natural farming promotion. National policy, through the NMNF and the Rashtriya Gokul Mission, has begun to institutionally support this convergence. Realising its full potential will require sustained attention to uneven livestock access, the knowledge-intensive nature of bioformulation preparation, still-developing scientific standardisation, and the need for locally calibrated agronomic evidence.

[This article is written by Dr. Zeshmarani Sarangthem, Professor & Head, Department of Livestock Production Management and Dr. Imtiwati, Assistant Professor (SS),Department of Livestock Production Management, College of Veterinary Sciences & Animal Husbandry, Jalukie, Peren District, Nagaland, India for publication on the occasion of the forthcoming three-day National Conference on “Natural Farming: Pathways to Self-Reliant Farming and Rural Prosperity”, with the motto “One Farm, One Ecosystem and One Health”, during 9–11 September 2026 under the aegis of Central Agricultural University (Imphal), Manipur, to be held at the College of Post Graduate Studies in Agricultural Sciences (CPGSAS), Umiam, Meghalaya.]