Sustainability concern in Indian agriculture: needs science-led innovation and structural reforms
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59797/ija.v65i2.5575Keywords:
Agro-biodiviersity, Carbon sequestration, Climate change, Conservation agriculture, Good agricultural practices, Government policy, Land degradation, Resource-conservation tech nologiesAbstract
Agriculture in India is facing several challenges which together are manifested into the sustainability issues. The broad contours of the agricultural production system in the country have been defined by the need to achieve food security which calls for close attention to rice–wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cropping system of the Indo Gangetic Plains (IGP) whose sustainability is under threat. Degradation of natural resources, severe biotic and abi otic stresses specially drought, floods, pest infestations with accompanying impacts on biodiversity and agricultural productivity are the major constraints to agricultural development. Further, climate change has gained significant global attention over the past decade due to concerns of deleterious long-term impacts on agriculture, water sup ply, human welfare, regional and political stability. All the related issues need to be addressed on priority, with par ticular emphasis on soil-carbon through a holistic approach. As the strategy brings focus on income of farmers, the agricultural technology needs to move from “Production oriented-Green Revolution” to “Farmer’s Income oriented Revolution” and environmentally sustainable farming. Therefore, for long-term sustainability in agriculture, 4 pil lars/ components (good agricultural practices, climate-change mitigation and adaptation, diversification of high value crops and biodiversity management) needs to be addressed properly, more importantly good agricultural practices (GAP). The GAPs are based on the principles of risk prevention, risk analysis, sustainable agriculture, and integrated crop management (ICM), which are of utmost importance in present time. The GAPs for agricultural sustainability are reduced tillage, conservation agriculture, resource-conservation technologies (RCTs), erosion control measures, diversified cropping system, micro-irrigation, balanced fertilization, manuring, watershed man agement, organic farming, and integrated farming systems etc. Now that the vision is to impart income security to the farmers of the country, diversification of the system across all the sub-sectors of agriculture assumes impor tance which is, indeed a de-risking mechanism capable of negotiating both endogenous and exogenous risks as sociated with the system. The effective and efficient management of agro-biodiversity is also essential through management of genebanks, science-led innovations; livelihood, food and nutrition security though crop diversifica tion, use of lesser-known crops and wild relatives in crop improvement; dealing appropriately with quarantine, bio safety and bio-security.
References
Aggarwal, P.K., Joshi, P.K., Ingram, J.S.I. and Gupta. R.K. (2004). Adapting food systems of the Indo-Gangetic plains to global environmental change: Key information needs to improve policy formulation. Environmental Science Policy 7: 487-498.
Bhatia, A., Pathak, H. and Aggarwal, P.K. (2004). Inventory of methane and nitrous oxide emissions from agricultural soils of India and their global warming potential. Current Science 87(3): 317–324.
Bhattacharyya, R., Ghosh, B.N., Mishra, P.K., Mandal, B., Rao, C.S., Sarkar, D., Das, K., Anil, K.S., Lalitha, M., Hati, K.M. and Franzluebbers, A.J. (2015). Soil degradation in India: Challenges and potential solutions. Sustainability 7(4): 3,528–3,570.
Bhattacharyya, T., Pal, D.K., Mandal, C. and Velayutham, M. (2013). Geographical distribution of organic carbon in India. Paper presented at the Indian Geography Congress, 2–4 January, 2000, National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Nagpur, Maharashtra.
Das, Anup, Layek, Jayanta, Mohapatra, K.P., Babu, Subhash, Thoi Thoi, Devi, Yadav, M., Singh, G.S., Krishnappa, R. and Kumar, Amit. (2017). Shifting cultivation: some options for sustainable development in Meghalaya. (In) Jhum Improvement for Sustaining Farm Livelihood and Natural Resource Conservation in North Eastern Hill Region: Vistas and Frontiers, 110 pp. Prakash, N., Roy, S.S., Ansari, M.A., Sharma, S.K., Punitha, P., Sailo, B. and Singh, I.M. (Eds). ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Umiam, Meghalaya, India.
Das, T.K., Bhattacharyya, R., Sharma, A.R., Das, S., Saad, A.A. and Pathak, H. (2013). Impacts of conservation agriculture on total soil organic carbon retention potential under an irrigated agro-ecosystem of the western Indo-Gangetic Plains. European Journal of Agronomy 51: 34–42.
Das, T.K., Bhattacharyya, R., Sudhishri, S., Sharma, A.R., Saharawat, Y.S., Bandyopadhyay, K.K., Sepat, S., Bana, R.S., Aggarwal, P., Sharma, R.K. and Bhatia, A. (2014). Conservation agriculture in an irrigated cotton–wheat system of the western Indo-Gangetic Plains: Crop and water productivity and economic profitability. Field Crops Research 158: 24–33.
FSI. (2005). State of Forest Report, Forest Survey of India, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, pp. 171.
Ghosh, P.K., Das, A., Saha, R., Kharkrang, E., Tripathi, A.K., Munda, G.C. and Ngachan, S.V. (2010). Conservation agriculture towards achieving food security in North East India. Current Science 99(7): 915–921.
Ghosh, P.K., Hazra, K.K., Venkatesh, M.S., Singh, K.K., Kumar, N. and Mathur, R.S. (2016). Potential of crop residue and fertilizer on enrichment of carbon pools in upland soils of subtropical India. Agricultural Research 5(3): 261–268.
Hazra, K.K., Venkatesh, M.S., Ghosh, P.K., Ganeshamurthy, A.N., Kumar, N., Nadarajan, N. and Singh, A.B. (2014). Long-term effect of pulse crops inclusion on soil–plant nutrient dynamics in puddled rice (Oryza sativa L.)–wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cropping system on an Inceptisol of Indo-Gangetic plain zone of India. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 100: 95–110.
Hazra, K.K., Ghosh, P.K., Venkatesh, M.S., Nath, C.P., Kumar, N., Singh, M., Singh, J. and Nadarajan, N. (2018). Improving soil organic carbon pools through inclusion of summer mungbean in cereal-cereal cropping systems in Indo-Gangetic plain. Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science 64(12) : 1690-1704.
IDNP. (2002). Indo-Dutch Network Project. Recommendations on water logging and salinity control based on pilot area drainage research. Central Soil Salinity Research Institute, Karnal, Haryana, p. 100.
IEG. (2000). Integrated Water Resource Development and Management for Sustainable Frame Work (Effect of land degradation and pollution), Institute of Economic Growth, New Delhi.
IPCC. (2007). In: Solomon, S., Qin, D., Manning, M., Chen, Z., Marquis, M., Averyt, K.B., Tignor, M., Miller, H.L. (Eds.), Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, pp. 996.
Ladha, J.K., Pathak, H., Tirol-Padre, A., Dawe, D. and Gupta, R.K. (2003). Productivity trends in intensive rice–wheat cropping systems in Asia. Improving the Productivity and Sustainability of Rice–Wheat Systems: Issues and Impacts (improving the pro), American Society of Agronomy, Inc. Crop Science Society of America, 65 pp. 45–76.
Lal, R. (2003). Soil erosion and the global carbon budget. Environment International 29: 437–450.
Malhi, S.S. and Lemke, R. (2007). Tillage, crop residue and N fertilizer effects on crop yield, nutrient uptake, soil quality and greenhouse gas emissions in the second 4-yr rotation cycle. Soil and Tillage Research 96: 269– 83.
Mendelsohn, R. (2014). The impact of climate change on agriculture in Asia. Journal of Integrative Agriculture 13(4): 660–665.
Montagnini, F. and Nair, P.K.R. (2004). Carbon sequestration: An underexploited environmental benefit of agroforestry systems. Agroforestry Systems 61: 281–295.
Naresh Kumar, M., Murthy, C.S., Sesha Sai, M.V.R. and Roy, P.S. (2012). Spatiotemporal analysis of meteorological drought variability in
