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Green revolution in India: Environmental degradation and impact on livestock
Abstract
The Green Revolution has transformed India to a food grain surplus country from a deficit one. No other activity has such immense impact on the socio-economic development of the people as the Green Revolution. Intensification of agriculture over the years has led to overall degradation of the fragile agro-ecosystem. High cost of production and diminishing economic returns from agricultural practices are affecting the socio-economic condition of farmers. Loss of soil fertility, erosion of soil, soil toxicity, diminishing water resources, pollution of underground water, salinity of underground water, increased incidence of human and livestock diseases and global warming are some of the negative impacts of over adoption of agricultural technologies by the farmers to make the Green Revolution successful. Indiscriminate and disproportionate use of chemicals pollutes the soil, air and water and feed and fodders offered to animals. This may be one of the important etiologies of increased productive and reproductive health problems of livestock. Various scientific studies and surveys conducted on fertilizer and pesticide residues during last 45 years indicate the presence of residues of fertilizers and pesticides like nitrates, organochlorines, organophosphates, synthetic pyrethroids and carbamates at higher level than permissible limit in milk, dairy products, water, fodder, livestock feeds and other food products. As urea, a nitrogen-rich fertilizer is used much more than the recommended 4-to-1 ratio to potassium; it is contributing to the global warming. The extent of systematic damages caused in the process of Green Revolution to the soil, groundwater, and ecosystem needs to be quantified. It could lead to irreversible consequence to the life of the people who are benefited once if the timely, adequate and sustainable measures are not taken up to mitigate the harm done by the Green Revolution.
... India's "Green Revolution" (GR) is a case in point. In the 1950s, government leaders in India were troubled by the deaths from the Bengal Famine of 1943 (Rahman, 2015). With their growing population, achieving food security became a top priority. ...
... With their growing population, achieving food security became a top priority. In the 1960s, the GR began with an expansion in agricultural lands, new highyielding seeds, expanded irrigation, double cropping, and vastly increased fertilizer and pesticide applications (Rahman, 2015;Schmanski, 2008). India became food secure, with large increases in the production of food and cereal grains. ...
... Examples include the high suicide rates of farmers, increasing cancer rates from pesticides, and especially the unsustainable use of groundwater (Schumanski, 2008;Singh and Park, 2018). Groundwater impacts were slow to develop, but are now serious, with total water-level declines ranging from 4.5 to 35 m (Rahman, 2015). ...
Across the arid regions of water-stressed countries of Asia, groundwater production for irrigated agriculture has led to water-level declines that continue to worsen. For India, China, Pakistan, Iran, and others, it is unrealistic to expect groundwater sustainability in a verifiable sense to emerge. Fragmented governance and the general inability to bring traditional socio-economic tools to bear on reducing groundwater demands have impeded progress to groundwater sustainability. For India and Pakistan, where operational management is at the level of states and provinces, there is no capacity to regulate. Also in both China and India, the tremendous numbers of groundwater users, large and small, confound regulation of groundwater. With business as usual, groundwater-related problems receive insufficient attention, a situation referred to as an “accelerating and invisible groundwater crisis” (Biswas et al., 2017). Another obstacle to sustainability comes from trying to manage something you do not understand. With sustainable management, there are significant burdens in the needed technical know-how, in collecting necessary data, and in funding advanced technologies. Thus, there are risks that Iran, India, and Pakistan will run short of groundwater from over-pumping in some places and will also be adversely affected by global climate change.
... India's "Green Revolution" (GR) is a case in point. In the 1950s, government leaders in India were troubled by the deaths from the Bengal Famine of 1943 (Rahman, 2015). With their growing population, achieving food security became a top priority. ...
... With their growing population, achieving food security became a top priority. In the 1960s, the GR began with an expansion in agricultural lands, new high-yielding seeds, expanded irrigation, double cropping, and vastly increased 160 fertilizer and pesticide applications (Rahman, 2015;Schmanski, 2008). India became food secure with large increases in the production of food and cereal grains. ...
... Groundwater impacts were slow to develop but are now serious with water-level declines ranging from 4.5 m to 35 m (Rahman, 2015). ...
Across the arid regions of water-stressed countries of Asia, groundwater production for irrigated agriculture has led to water level declines that continue to worsen. For India, China, Pakistan, Iran and others, it is unrealistic to expect groundwater sustainability in a technical sense to emerge. With business as usual, groundwater-related problems receive insufficient attention, a situation referred to as an accelerating and invisible groundwater crisis (Biswas et al., 2017). Another obstacle to sustainability comes from trying to manage something you do not understand. With sustainable management, there are significant burdens in needed technical and socioeconomic knowhow, in collecting necessary data, and in implementing advanced technologies. A pragmatic research agenda for groundwater sustainability should recognize that a common threat to long-term sustainability could occur not just from over-pumping but widespread groundwater contamination. If groundwater sustainability is truly unachievable, then research is needed in facilitating adaption to the worst outcomes (Siegel et al., 2019). In hoping for the best outcomes, it is prudent to plan for the worst.
... Per hectare real value of output increased for most of the crops in recent years, but the rise in input cost was much higher (Businessline, 2019), resulting into reduced farm income. Moreover, green revolution technology is now contemplated to be degrading the agroecosystem and diminishing the economic returns for the farmers (Rahman, 2015) [10] . Several studies have shown that chemical fertilizers and pesticides affect soil health by killing millions of microbes present in the soil which are important for sustaining plant life (Jayashree and Vasudevan, 2007) [2] . ...
... Per hectare real value of output increased for most of the crops in recent years, but the rise in input cost was much higher (Businessline, 2019), resulting into reduced farm income. Moreover, green revolution technology is now contemplated to be degrading the agroecosystem and diminishing the economic returns for the farmers (Rahman, 2015) [10] . Several studies have shown that chemical fertilizers and pesticides affect soil health by killing millions of microbes present in the soil which are important for sustaining plant life (Jayashree and Vasudevan, 2007) [2] . ...
The study investigated farmers' perception and extent of adoption of Subhas Palekar Natural Farming (SPNF) in Vizianagaram District of Andhra Pradesh with the specific objectives of assessing over all farmers' perception, the determinants of their adoption, constraints in practicing SPNF, cost of cultivation, yield and economics differences and suggestions for sustainable SPNF adoption. The study is based on extensive field survey and interactions with adopted and non-adopted farmers across the Vizianagaram district in Andhra Pradesh during 2019-20. About thirty SPNF practicing farmers from across the clusters identified randomly selected for the purpose. Simultaneously 30 conventional farmers were also selected from the same villages for comparison, thus making the final sample size 60. The data were collected by using well developed schedule by personal interview method. The responses were scored, quantified, categorized and tabulated using mean, standard deviation, correlation coefficient, frequencies and percentages. Majority of the farmers agreed that, relative advantage over chemical farming (56.67%), SPNF feasible to adopt present day farming situation (53.33%), soil is enriched with SPNF (83.33%), there is increase in micro organisms and earth worms in soil (96.67%), SPNF facilitates natural enemies population (76.67%), quality production is possible (100%) and SPNF is practicing to produce for his own family consumption (76.67%) besides that farmers expressed the difficulties regarding difficult to practice (46.67), purchasing and maintaining traditional cows is difficult (53.33) and they thought that weed management is also difficult (96.67%). Further, farmers also still in doldrums regarding reduces cost of cultivation (76.67), getting more returns (76.67). Majority (63.33%) of the farmers were undecided about getting sustainable yields through SPNF. More than half of the famers disagreed that adoption of SPNF on large scale is possible (55.00%). Almost all the farmers (100%) felt that, weed management is difficult, 96.67% farmers expressed that, intensive labour requirement in SPNF and 100% farmers observed low yields in initial years. Intensive labour requirement was another threat hindering farmers to adopt SPNF on large scale. The cost of cultivation is increased 22.58% in case of SPNF (Rs.47991ha-1) with comparison with conventional farming(Rs.39149 ha-1), might be due to intensive labour involvement. The yields were recorded 4835 kgha-1 in SPNF which is 18.41% lower than conventional farming (5925 kgha-1). The major constraints expressed were non availability of SPNF inputs, lack of information on preparation and use of asthras, intensive labour requirement, weed management and finally low yields in initial years. The farmers who are having animals, irrigation facilities, machinery and undergone more trainings on SPNF, the farmers had gained good knowledge on SPNF, skills in preparation of asthras and overcoming practical difficulties in SPNF and significantly positive relation with extent of adoption of SPNF practices. Hence efforts are needed to facilitate farmers with continuous support through series of trainings on technical knowhow to increase the extent of adoption of SPNF.
... The United States also took measures, e.g., Clean Water Act, to prevent and control the pollution from intensive animal husbandry [15]. Although animal husbandry pollution has been a history for some developed countries, many developing countries, such as China and India, face challenges in mitigating environmental impacts brought by the recent transformation toward large-scale industrial livestock and poultry cultivation [16,17]. ...
... No starch is decomposed products Easy to detect: starch-free is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for compost maturity C/N ratio (15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20):1 When the initial WSC/N ratio is less than 16, it is difficult to be used as a general parameter Water-soluble carbon (WSC) ...
Due to the high demand for food and meat for the world's growing population, the agricultural sector is expanding every year. Timely and effective treatment is of utmost importance to utilize organic matter in agricultural waste and avoid environmental pollution. Composting or aerobic fermentation is an effective way to treat agricultural waste and produce organic fertilizer. Improving the application rate of organic fertilizer in soil needs time to reduce dependence on chemical fertilizers. This review article presented the current status and traditional agricultural waste (livestock manure and crop straws) utilization methods, the art of aerobic fermentation process including ultrahigh temperature fermentation and composting. The selection of livestock manure and crop straws as agricultural waste for this review article is due to high nutrients contents and massive generation of them worldwide. This article also included the development of aerobic fermentation technology and listed the high-temperature fermentation tanks. Based on high-temperature aerobic fermentation process performance and quality compost production, recently, some researchers have started working on hyperthermophile pretreatment-assisted high temperature composting, also discussed. Finally, this article gave brief knowledge about compost maturity, which is very important to measure before its application as an organic fertilizer. This art of literature could provide comprehensive knowledge about agricultural waste utilization and high-temperature composting to researchers.
... The effects of the "Green Revolution" technology on the environment and the issue of sustainability of agricultural growth received attention by many researchers (Nelson et al, 2019;Rahman, 2015;Singh, 2000;Redclift, 1989;and Bowonder, 1979). Nelson et al, 2019Nelson et al, (2019 believed the green revolution technologies led to the decline production of some food crops such as indigenous rice varieties and millets of India. ...
... Nelson et al, 2019Nelson et al, (2019 believed the green revolution technologies led to the decline production of some food crops such as indigenous rice varieties and millets of India. Rahman (2015) linked the over adoption of the agricultural technologies by the farmers to make the Green Revolution effective in India and the degradation of the agro-ecosystem. Singh (2000) considered the widespread adoption of green revolution technologies to be the main cause of significant soil degradation in the Haryana state of India. ...
The adoption of sustainable agricultural practices is widely recognized as essential to ensure agricultural sustainability. This study analyzed factors influencing citrus farmers adoption of sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs) in the Northern Ghor of Jordan valley. The study used a quantitative approach. Simple random sampling was adopted to select 115 farmers in the study area. The study found that the largest proportion 44.4% of the citrus farmers had a fairly high adoption rate of SAPs while 13.0% of ones had high adoption of SAPs. In addition, the study revealed that age was the significant variable that positively influences farmers SAPs adoption, while experience, primary education, and tertiary education have a negative influence on the adoption of SAPs. The study recommends that special attention be given to older farmers to exploit their skills and receptive to implementing SAPs, encourage and guide farmers toward implementing sustainable agriculture techniques and suitable inputs by providing premium and incentive payments to them, and take deterrent penalties against farmers who using inappropriate and harmful applications, or who do not use appropriate applications.
... This led to a deterioration of the animal health and to high levels of pesticide residues in milk [22]. Another example is the increasing environmental concerns on the widespread use of insecticides against tsetse flies, vectors of trypanosomes, the causal agents of nagana or animal trypanosomiasis, the economically most important disease of livestock in Africa, which has motivated research into environmentally more friendly control strategies [23]. ...
One Health (OH) has gained considerable prominence since the beginning of the 21st century, among others, driven by the recent epidemics and the increasing importance of zoonotic diseases. Yet despite the holistic and multidimensional nature of OH, to date most emphasis has been on the interactions between animal and human health, with considerably less attention to environmental and plant health. However, there is growing evidence that the challenges of climate change, growing food and nutritional insecurity, and biodiversity loss can best be addressed within the context of the OH framework. Conceptionally Integrated Pest Management (IPM) could perfectly fit into such an approach, but historically IPM has been practiced very much in a compartmentalised manner. New approaches like Regenerative Agriculture and Sustainable Intensification offer solutions to how to successfully embed IPM into a OH framework.
... With the introduction of 'Green Revolution' technologies, agriculture in India has transitioned from subsistence to commercial farming. In spite of the success, the input-intensive 'Green Revolution' in recent decades has often masked significant externalities, affecting natural resources and human health, as well as agriculture itself (Pimentel and Pimentel, 1990;Rahman, 2015;Krishnakumar, 2019). Besides, there is also additional impact of the neo-liberal economic reforms. ...
This paper envisages the economic viability of two alternative models of organic farming i.e. Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) and Scientific Organic Farming. In the empirical survey the study considers two clusters based on the two alternative organic models (i.e. a ZBNF model in Purulia district and a scientific organic farming model in Burdwan district) in West Bengal, India. Performance of these models is evaluated by considering three important parameters i.e. cost of cultivation, yield and income. Evidences reveal that the organic farmers under both models have experienced a reduction in per hectare production cost and yield for their crops in the post-conversion period. Evidences also suggest that farmers adopting ZBNF model in Purulia were able to enhance their income, whereas the income reduced significantly for the farmers practicing scientific organic farming in Burdwan. Moreover, a comparative in–depth analysis of performance is carried out between these two alternative models in order to identify the factors that can influence their long-term sustainability. Results indicate that long term sustainability of the organic model is conditioned upon the interplay of agro-climatic conditions and various other socio-economic factors.
... Improper application of fertilizers and pesticides had contaminated water, poisoned agricultural employees, and eradicated useful insects or other wildlife. According to Rahman (2015), disorganized and inappropriate use of chemicals had infected soil, water, and air. ...
p>In 1960s, Indonesia experienced serious rice insufficiency and was one of the largest rice importing countries. The government was encouraged to achieve rice self-sufficiency, i.e. implementing the green revolution (GR) technology through promoting modern agricultural inputs adoption. GR had helped Indonesia to achieve rice self- sufficiency in 1984. However, such technology deals with some problems, e.g. environmental destruction and farmers’ dependence on agrochemical industry. Many consider organic farming system is the solution to address this issue as its practice offers the best way toward sustainable food production and resources use. Demand for organic rice is expected to increase in the future along with the population and income growth. However, prospect of organic rice farming is still uncertain as its adoption is very low. The main challenge is farmers’ unease on yield reduction. Other crucial problems are lack of technical know-how and government supports as well as increase in costs of land conversion and chemical contaminations from conventional farming. It is necessary to conduct more in-depth studies on the factors influencing farmers’ willingness to adopt organic farming. It will be useful for the government to design appropriate strategies and policies to accelerate organic rice farming adoption.
Abstrak
Pada 1960-an, Indonesia mengalami kekurangan beras dan termasuk salah satu pengimpor beras terbesar di dunia. Pemerintah saat itu memprioritaskan pemenuhan beras dengan target swasembada dengan berbagai upaya, seperti penerapan teknologi revolusi hijau (RH) melalui penggunaan input pertanian modern. RH terbukti membuat Indonesia mencapai swasembada beras pada tahun 1984. Namun, teknologi tersebut juga telah menyebabkan dampak negatif, terutama kerusakan lingkungan dan petani sangat bergantung pada industri agro- kimia. Beberapa kalangan menganggap sistem pertanian organik adalah solusi untuk mengatasi masalah ini. Pertanian organik menawarkan cara terbaik untuk produksi pangan dan penggunaan sumber daya secara berkelanjutan dan ramah lingkungan. Permintaan beras organik diperkirakan akan meningkat di masa mendatang seiring dengan pertumbuhan penduduk dan pendapatan. Adopsi pertanian organik masih sangat lambat. Tantangan utama pertanian padi organik adalah kekhawatiran anjloknya hasil panen ketika melakukan konversi. Permasalahan lainnya adalah kurangnya pengetahuan teknis dan dukungan pemerintah, mahalnya biaya konversi dan kontaminasi bahan kimia dari pertanian konvensional. Diperlukan penelitian yang lebih mendalam tentang faktor-faktor yang memengaruhi petani untuk mengadopsi pertanian organik. Dengan demikian pemerintah dapat merancang strategi dan kebijakan yang tepat untuk mempercepat adopsi pertanian padi organik.</p
... However, continuous and intensive use of the technologies developed during green revolution have resulted in lowering of the factor productivity coupled with aberrant natural resource degradation viz. physical and chemical deterioration of soil, secondary salinisation, groundwater depletion, and new pest resurgence in recent years (Gupta and Seth, 2007;Rahman, 2015). Thus, Indian agriculture is entering a new phase and the issues of conservation agriculture have gained importance in view of widespread resource degradation and the need to increase profitability by reducing production costs making the agriculture more remunerative (Bhan and Behera, 2014). ...
Continuous rice–wheat cropping system with intensive conventional tillage operations have been showing natural resource degradation. Hence, the sustainability of this major cropping system in eastern India is under a threat. Adoption of resource conservation such as conservation tillage practice with residue retention on the soil and diversification of the rice–wheat cropping system with the inclusion of pulses, oilseeds may lead towards achieving overall sustainability of the system. Attempts were made to evaluate the different tillage practices viz. zero tillage (ZT), reduced tillage (RT) and conventional tillage (CT) under rice based various cropping systems viz. rice–wheat–greengram, rice–Lathyrus–greengram, rice–lentil–greengram and rice–rapeseed–greengram in terms of system productivity, nutrient uptake by the system, recovery efficiency (RE) of added nutrients, soil microbial population and nitrous oxide (N2O) emission in alluvial soil of eastern India. Results revealed sig-nificant increase in system productivity, nutrient uptake and RE of N, P and K in RT. The maximum microbial population was found in ZT. Cereal dominated cropping system (rice–wheat–greengram) showed higher productivity and nutrient uptake, however, the recovery efficiency of nutrient and microbial population was recorded higher in legume dominated cropping systems (rice–lentil–greengram or rice–Lathyrus–greengram). The maximum N2O emission was recorded in ZT, which was almost 3–6% higher than that of RT and CT, respec-tively. Overall, reduced tillage was found to be the most suitable tillage option under rice based diversified cropping systems.
... The revolution enhanced the adoption of high-yielding crop cultivars and inputs such as organic fertilizer and irrigation. It also provides water for farming in areas with limited or no rainfall, consequently offering more land to use for food production [11]. Economic factors had also been contributing to the adoption of technology in agriculture. ...
... The Green Revolution besides providing surplus food to the country with intensified agriculture over the years degraded the fragile agro-ecosystems in India (Rahman 2015). The revolutionary success of the techniques used during the period of the Green Revolution was based on modern methods. ...
Soil is a very important and sensitive resource of any country as the crop yield of a nation on which the whole population depends is directly linked to the soil health. The dependence of a nation on others for meeting the demand of its population for food and other crop products is a matter of great concern. The Green Revolution in India intensified agricultural productivity to meet urgent public needs and for the commercialization of crop products. Indeed, Green Revolution helped in achieving goal up to a certain level with the use of high input of chemicals in the form of fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, insecticides, nematicides and weedicides along with intense irrigation practices. After Green Revolution, the decline in crop yield in spite of fertilizer application reveals the loss of soil fertility. Toxic chemicals in soil affected the life of beneficial soil organisms, which indeed are responsible for maintaining soil fertility. Further, these chemicals polluted groundwater, air and adversely affected human and animal health. Hence, restoration of soil health and environment is an urgent need. Avoidance of chemical fertilizers and use of natural fertilizers like biofertilizers, vermicompost, farm yard and green manure, and biopesticides can be a sustainable approach in achieving the crop productivity along with nourishing the soil and environment. Present chapter discusses about the effects of Green Revolution on soil health in India and suggests for consideration of techniques with eco-friendly approaches to heal soil loss and to manage soil fertility for sustainable agriculture.
... The great success of the GR notwithstanding, concerns have also been raised in the last two decades regarding the side effects of the GR. These side effects are mostly identified as issues of environmental degradation induced by increased use of water resources, deforestation, conversion of land cover to cropland, and the increased application of pesticides and fertilizers, which can cause ecosystem deterioration and adverse human health effects (Evenson & Gollin, 2003;Pingali, 2012;Rahman, 2015). Besides, large consumption of fossil fuel in agriculture sector has been witnessed during the worldwide GR (Pellegrini & Fernández, 2018), which could result in increasing BC emissions. ...
Plain Language Summary
Black carbon originated from incomplete combustion can endanger human health and contaminate the environment. The light‐absorbing nature of black carbon is of vital importance to regional and global climate. Emissions from agriculture sources consist of large portion of black carbon particles, especially in India with intensive agriculture. The GR aiming at improving agriculture development in India has accomplished great success since the 1960s, but its side effects on long‐term climate change have not been assessed. In the present study, we quantify black carbon contamination and DRF induced by agriculture activities including crop residue burning from 1961 to 2011 during which the GR has been operated. Our results reveal that agricultural emission in India is an important sector contributing to the local and regional climate forcing. Such contribution could extend to the global climate. We propose that considerable and continuous efforts need to be made to control agriculture emissions in India to achieve a sustainable GR, in the meanwhile, mitigate the climate change.
... The use of combine harvester has completely transformed the agriculture and harvesting in Punjab and Haryana (Jodhka, 2012). It replaced labour, farm animals and threshers to decrease the cost and time of cultivation (Rahman, 2015). The combine harvester itself is a very expensive piece of farm machinery that required farmers to look for government subsidies, agricultural loans and informal credits. ...
This paper employs RRI’s mandate of ‘commitment to care’ to understand the ‘problem’ of rice straw burning in India and the possible ways of engaging with it. Straw burning is often framed as a linear technology or policy deficit ‘problem’ in need of an immediate and quick fix. Interventions and solutions emerging from such framings have so far remained ineffective. The ‘commitment to care’ approach enables us to situate the current practices of straw burning in a complex web of relationalities, dependencies, vulnerabilities, and affect. By doing so, the ‘problem’ of straw burning is rearticulated and redefined as a cumulative effect of multiple interventions, transformations, and contradictions that led to the shaping of modern agricultural systems in India. This re-articulation demands for a rethinking of engagement, remedies and responsibilities in ways that move beyond the individualization of blame and action.
... In the past decades, the intensive use of agrochemicals in combination with the selection of adequate crop varieties permitted to overcome some of these problems giving rise to the socalled Green Revolution (Pingali 2012). Alas, after decades of intensive use of these technologies, the agroecosystems became degraded, lost most of their fertility, or were either eroded or polluted (Rahman 2015). Considering these inconvenients, the proposed several alternatives to increase the productivity of farms in a sustainable way, without causing serious environmental or economic impacts. ...
Even though they are among the most extreme environments in which life can develop, glaciers are colonized by metabolically active microbes, some of which thrive—in their own particular way—under the prevailing harsh conditions. Glacial or periglacial microbes are often psychrophiles since they are able to grow optimally at low temperatures. This ability has evolved through a series of adaptations, both molecular and physiological, some of which have been exploited by the biotechnological industry to develop useful products and processes. The recent discovery of cold-adapted plant growth-promoting microorganisms (PGPM) in glacial ice or periglacial soils has opened a gate to a new trove of applications due to their potential use as biofertilizers or biocontrol agents, effective in cold climates. It has been claimed that this would be of profit to increase agriculture productivity in hilly terrains, like those prevailing in the Andes or the Himalayas, since—in addition to their ability to promote plant growth through direct or indirect mechanisms—they represent an environmentally friendly alternative to the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. In the following chapter, I summarize the current knowledge on the identity and characteristics of such PGPM and highlight the experiences in promoting the growth of a few plant species, at low temperatures.Key Points
•Countless microbes are immured in glaciers and their surroundings.
•Many glacial and periglacial microbes are cold-loving (i.e., psychrophiles).
•Some glacial and periglacial psychrophiles promote plant growth and development.
•Plant growth-promoting psychrophiles can be used to develop biofertilizers.
... Tlre |aluable conullents received from the estecnred lel'eree has been very useful in improving themanuscript. economic returns for the farmers (Rahman, 2015). Several studies have shown that chemical fertiliser and pesticides affect soil health by killing millions of microbes present in the soil which are important for sustaining plant life (Zafar et a1.,2001;Jayashree and Vasudevan, 2007). ...
AI}STRACT Natural Firming (NF) is contemplated by its protagonist as one of the most potential crop cultivation methods to drastically cut down production costs by reducing dependence on rnarket for purchase of critical inputs. Being considered as an agroecologically diverse farming practice, it brings hosts of ecological and social benefits, although, there are two school of thoughts-opposing each other on the efficacy of its practices. In order to better understand the practice followed in NF' as well as the cost saving and income gain by the NF farmers, the study was undertaken in the states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh during January-June 2019 covering 55 and 124 NF-adopting farmers and 50 and 61 non-NF farmers in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, respectively. Though there are certain practices prescribed in natural farming, the most adopted practice is use of Jeevamritha, Beejamritha and other plant protection materials. Further, there is always scope for tweaking and innovation in these practices like Ghanajeevamritha. use of Azolla in paddy field or applying Jeevamritha through drip irrigation. Significant reduction in cost of cultivation of all the crops was observed, However, the effect on crop yield is not conclusive. NF-farmers in Karnataka harvested better yield in finger millet, but lower yield in paddy and sugarcane. While in Andhra Pradesh, yield advantage was visible in paddy. It was also observed that the NF adopted farmers who applied farm yard rnanure harvested better crop yield than those who did not apply. Thus, natural farming may not look as yield enhancing farming practices, but definitely increases farmers' income through cost reduction and long-term sustainability.
... This deficit will be transformed into a livestock degradation, if not through (Thornton, 2010). There is a relationship between livestock and agricultural production, which supports the growth of densely populated livestock, or allows it to be intensively developed in agricultural areas (Bos et al., 2013;Pretty & Bharucha, 2014;Rahman, 2015). In contrast, degradation of agricultural areas will significantly reduce livestock populations and sustainability (Deshar, 2013;Tesfa & Mekuriaw, 2014;Sonneveld et al., 2016). ...
Feed is a main factor of sustainable livestock population, where the availability of suitable land for grass growth is urgent. Modern agriculture has dramatically reduced the diversity of forages due to the massive monoculture. This study was aimed to obtain data on the size of the existing land, distribution, potential feed production, and to obtain the carrying capacity based on feed adequacy map. The research was conducted on 6 dairy and beef cattle farms in Pasuruan Regency (7°38'S,112°54'E), East Java Province, Indonesia: Tutur, Puspo, Lumbang, Lekok, Grati, and Purwodadi. Population and distribution are represented spatially through thematic maps. The mapping using the Indonesia land-base map (Rupa Bumi Indonesia-RBI) scale 1: 25,000, GPS handsets, and surveyors. Nguling had the highest beef cattle population (15,519 AU), while Tutur had the highest dairy cattle population (22,033 AU). Farmers were able to provide feed in the form of food-crop waste. Bangil had the highest carrying capacity of feed and safe criteria followed by Pohjentrek, while Lekok, Tutur, Puspo, Lumbang, Purwosari, Nguling, and Prigen subdistricts had very critical criteria. Based on the overall feed index, Pasuruan had a vulnerable criteria. The land carrying capacity status between land availability (SL) and land requirement (DL) was deficit. Less than 15% of land had low water carrying capacity. By carrying capacity index of crops waste (CCICW), the carrying capacity of food crops was high. The land carrying capacity status was deficit.
... Clean Water Act, to prevent and control the pollution from intensive animal husbandry (MacDonald and McBride, 2009). Although animal husbandry pollution has been a history for some developed countries, many developing countries, such as China (Gao et al., 2014;Smith and Siciliano, 2015) and India (Nautiyal et al., 2015;Rahman, 2015), are facing challenges in mitigating environmental impacts brought by the recent transformation towards large-scale industrial livestock and poultry cultivation. ...
Intensive animal husbandry had aroused great environmental concerns in many developed countries. However, some developing countries are still undergoing the environmental pollution from livestock and poultry sectors. Driven by the large demand, China has experienced a remarkable increase in dairy and meat production, especially in the transformation stage from conventional household breeding to large-scale industrial breeding. At the same time, a large amount of manure from the livestock and poultry sector is released into waterbodies and soil, causing eutrophication and soil degradation. This condition will be reinforced in the large-scale cultivation where the amount of manure exceeds the soil nutrient capacity, if not treated or utilized properly. Our research aims to analyze whether the transformation of raising scale would be beneficial to the environment as well as present the latest status of livestock and poultry sectors in China. The estimation of the pollutants generated and discharged from livestock and poultry sector in China will facilitate the legislation of manure management. This paper analyzes the pollutants generated from the manure of the five principal commercial animals in different farming practices. The results show that the fattening pigs contribute almost half of the pollutants released from manure. Moreover, the beef cattle exert the largest environmental impact for unitary production, about 2-3 times of pork and 5-20 times of chicken. The animals raised with large-scale feedlots practice generate fewer pollutants than those raised in households. The shift towards industrial production of livestock and poultry is easier to manage from the environmental perspective, but adequate large-scale cultivation is encouraged. Regulation control, manure treatment and financial subsidies for the manure treatment and utilization are recommended to achieve the ecological agriculture in China.
... Green revolution solves the problem of food insufficiency but, did not emphasize sustainability in crop production, the only adaptation of cereal-based cropping system without the inclusion of legumes crop which, leads emerge several issues related to environment and soil ecosystem, biodiversity (Bajiya et al., 2017). The notable adverse effects are soil degradation, soil salinity, degrade soil health, depletion of soil organic carbon (SOC) pool, decrease in crop productivity, stagnation of yield, shifting of weed flora, contamination of groundwater, change in cropping pattern, the resurgence in pest due to excess use plant protection chemical, over mining of nutrients which advances food and nutritional insecurity (Datta and De Jong, 2002;Meena, 2013;Rahman, 2015). In this context, legumes play a foremost important in alleviating environment-related challenges. ...
Food and nutritional security, environmental sustainability, mitigating climatic vulnerability, shifting of weed flora, weed developed resistance against the herbicide, high capital investment through manual weed management, and increasing the requirement for energy input in the agriculture sector are the major issues in crop production in the coming years. It is no doubt that the introduction of herbicide in the agriculture sector increases the income of farmers, which boost the economy of the nation, but its improper uses create several problems. The consumption of herbicide in the world during 2018 was 1.30Mt. The excess uses of herbicide in agriculture pose several consequences such as environmental pollution, increasing demand for energy in the industrial sector, increase resistance in different weed species, appearing novel weed flora in the cropping system, and incurred higher cost of cultivation in crop production. Sustainable food production is one of the important tools in maintaining ecological balance and soil health. In this circumstance, integrating legumes into cropping systems provides several ecosystem services which fulfill the objectives of ecological weed management. Sustainable intensification is fulfilling the demand for food and ensuring nutritional security in a sustainable manner while maintaining biodiversity and providing many ecosystem services. In a cropping system or single crop production weeds are poses a serious loss by reducing crop growth, yield, quality, depletes fertility status of soil, and act as an alternate host for several insects, pest, and diseases. The yields reduction in direct-seeded rice due to weeds was reported up to 90%. Globally, more than US$ 100 billion was a loss due to infestation of weed in annual crops. The weed seed of Argemone mexicana crushed mustard seed and the oil feed by human beings causes glaucoma or dropsy. The weed green Amaranthus (Amaranthus viridis) can accumulate about 3% N in its biomass and causes severe depletion of nitrogen (N) economy in soil. The three solanaceous weeds such as Solanum nigrum, Datura stramonium, and Datura ferox are act as an alternate host for tomato leaf minor. The application of herbicides during the crop production causes adverse effects on the environment, soil ecosystem, pollute ground water, damage ecological diversity, and affects human health. Besides, the use of herbicide for weed management incurred about US$ 25 billion annually across the globe. Therefore, to tackle such issues of weed the integration of legumes in the different crop production systems as cover crop, relay crop, green manure crop, brown manuring crop play a key role in providing many ecosystem services such as suppressing weed species by smothering or by allelopathy effect, break the life cycle of disease and pest, increasing carbon (C) and N pool in soil, enhancing soil organic matter content, enhance soil health by improving physical, chemical and biological properties of soil. In intercropping system, legumes have better suppression on weed flora by reducing their density and biomass. Further, legumes fulfill the requirement of N of the component crop. Legumes in the crop rotation system break the infestation of frequently occurrence weeds due to its allelopathic effects or smothering effects on the weed seed bank. Based on the diverse benefits of legumes, it is ensured that legumes either in the cropping system or alone as crop residue plays a key role in driving sustainable intensification.
... Organic and natural farming is gaining momentum in the northern states of India. This has happened in response to the negative impacts of the GR model (Bhalla and Chadha 1982;Rahman 2015;Shiva 2016;Singh 2000). One central feature of natural farming is attention to soil health as a way to increase profits with reduced use of resources and lower economic inputs (interview, farmer, 10 February 2017). ...
Second-generation (2G) biofuels are promoted worldwide as remedy to sustainable-energy challenges in the transport sector and as response to the criticism of first-generation biofuels. By utilizing agriculture and forest residues, 2G biofuels claim to support agricultural livelihoods and boost rural economies. Quantitative estimates exist of the availability of “waste” or “unused” or “surplus” biomass that could be fed into producing bioenergy. Most of current discourse on 2G bioethanol is about developing efficient technologies and supportive policies for biomass utilization and energy distribution, while availability and supply of that biomass are often taken for granted. This paper challenges these presumptions of biomass availability and technological feasibility. Following a social-constructivist analysis of technology and focusing on how political actors, scientists, industry, green-revolution and organic farmers envision biomass, this paper argues that the innovation for 2G is hybrid and complex, rather than merely logistical and economic. Biomass as feedstock is not an off-the-shelf commodity, but a dynamic and fluid entity, the availability of which is dependent on a number of cultural, social, technological and economic factors. Policies are needed that recognize the multiplicity of agricultural practices if a sustainable biofuel system is to be developed.
... In any event, recognizing the advantages of the Green Revolution in helping to adjust populace development and food creation, it became apparent before long that the increase of horticulture through the selection of agro-advancements by ranchers had prompted the debasement of delicate agroecosystems, due to the loss of soil fruitfulness, disintegration, natural lopsided characteristics, and contamination. These issues were the outcome of the foolish and unbalanced utilization of the advances created inside the Green Revolution, exacerbated by shallow formative arrangements (Rahman 2015). Lamentably, almost fifty years after it began, the critical heritage called the Green Revolution has in numerous areas turned into the debasement of agricultural regular environments, and a significant part of the populace have not received the guaranteed end-of-hunger rewards on those innovations. ...
A growing worldwide population, urbanization and industrialization are expanding the pace of transformation of arable land into no-man’s land. Providing food to an ever-expanding populace is perhaps the greatest test that agriculturalists and plant researchers are now facing. Ecological anxieties make this circumstance much graver. In spite of the enlistment of a few resilience components, touchy plants regularly neglect to make due under natural limits. New mechanical methodologies are basic. Customary rearing techniques have a restricted potential to improve plant genomes against ecological pressure. As of late, hereditary building has contributed hugely to the advancement of hereditarily altered assortments of various harvests, for example, cotton, maize, rice, canola and soybean. The distinguishing proof of pressure responsive qualities and their resulting introgression or overexpression inside delicate yield species is presently being broadly done by plant researchers. The design of significant resilience pathways, similar to cell reinforcement chemicals, osmolyte amassing, layer limited transporters for effective compartmentation of harmful particles and aggregation of fundamental components and opposition against irritations or microorganisms is additionally a territory that has been seriously investigated. In this chapter, the role of microbial biotechnology for mitigation of heat stress in plants are discussed.
... commercial interests and ignorance in India's much-lauded Green Revolution (Rahman, 2015;Pingali, 2012). Ethical evaluation done in the Global North must focus systematically on the potentially negative consequences of policies and practices on the Global South. ...
This chapter tackles the alluring narratives of the powerful that conform to the dictum of “the winner writes the history”. In a world that is increasingly unequal and full of injustices, with economic exploitation seen as necessary for development, Ofir and Gallagher focus our attention on the ethical consequences of a dominant narrative on development, and how the world has been shaped in this way. They present this as an issue that evaluators need to be aware of and engage with, as otherwise both they and their evaluations become willfully or unwittingly part of the continuation of injustice and exploitation. In their view, culturally responsive evaluations should emphasize values-informed practices that intersect with the interests of the Global South. This assumes the shared interests between societies and between people and nature and opposes these to the interests of the Global North, the “developers”. Ofir and Gallagher report on the experience of the South-to-South Evaluation (S2SE) initiative that was initiated to elevate and further advance the substantial, yet still under-utilized, indigenous knowledge, capacities and resources of the Global South, and to ensure that evaluation in all its forms effectively serves and supports countries and societies in the South in their development and cooperation efforts by combining the most appropriate knowledge and methods from around the world. They see this as a necessary step to enable evaluation to follow the ethical imperatives of tackling bad, doing no harm and doing good.
... Enormous use of chemical inputs led to decrease in production efficiency of natural resources with the signs of new problems like degradation and pollution [1]. The irrigated lands got exhausted due to the intensive agricultural practices whereas, the dry lands were not utilised up to the mark due to the prevailing extensive agricultural practices. ...
The scale was developed to measure the performance level of extension personnel in promoting sustainable dry farming in central dry zone of Karnataka. Dry farming areas are the areas which receives an annual rainfall of 750 mm or less than that and there is no irrigation facility for raising crops. Dry farming is the scientific management of soil and crops under dry lands without irrigation. In total 38 statements were framed in scale with review of literature, experts' suggestion and the role & responsibilities prescribed by State Department of Agriculture, Karnataka to their staff. The edited statements in form of questionnaires were sent to 109 judges to rate the relevancy of statements with the help of online platform 'Google Forms'. Out of 109, 21 completely filled questionnaires were received in the span of 3 months with many reminders through mail and phone calls. In total 20 statements were selected out of 38 which were having mean relevancy score more than 4.00 and relevancy percentage more than 80. Then t-test has been administered for item analysis and all the 20 selected statements were found to have t-value more than the standard value i.e., 1.75 and hence all 20 statements were retained to the final scale. The r-value was found to be 0.78 and hence the scale was found to be reliable and valid to use in future for the similar investigations.
... After independence, the challenge was to feed our growing population and the chemo-centric technological advancement during green revolution period boosted the production potential and provided food security to the nation (Swami 2020). The success of intensive agriculture and green revolution in recent decades has often masked significant externalities by affecting natural resources and human health (Rahman 2015). Nowadays emerging realization about conservation of natural resources as well as detrimental effects associated with the use of agrochemicals has shifted attention in alternate forms of agriculture in the world. ...
The organic manures contain large proportion of organic matter, small quantities of plant nutrients and play pivotal role in improving the soil physical, chemical and biological properties. The use of FYM and compost in agriculture is an age old practice to improve crop productivity. The inoculations of microorganisms in soil are also beneficial for maintaining soil health though decomposition of organic matter, N fixation, solubilization/mineralization, production of antibiotics and plant growth regulators etc. In the paper, the roles of vermicompost, FYM and biofertilizers on crop productivity and soil health have been discussed in detail. The bioxidation and stabilization of organic material by using earthworms and mesophilic microorganisms is known as vermicomposting. The vermicompost applications in soil stimulate soil microbial activity and mineralization processes. The application of FYM and vermicompost boost the activities of beneficial soil microorganisms and improve the supply of mineral nutrients, soil structure, water retention capability and enzymatic activities. Seed or soil inoculated biofertilizers promotes the nutrient cycling and improves crop productivity with two ways i.e. direct - N fixation, solubilization of nutrients production of phytohormones, indirect – development of resistance in plant against the stress and diseases and heavy metals bioremediation. The use of manures along with biofertilizers in farming ensures the improvement in soil biodiversity and food safety for human consumption. The use of manures in agriculture is essential for sustainable production systems and to keep the soil alive and healthy.
... Despite the prominent role played by the green revolution in empowering the nation, it did have its share of drawbacks which raises questions on its sustainability in the backdrop of Economic viability (Rahman, S.,2015). Some of the prominent issues are highlighted below: ...
India is predominantly an agricultural nation. Agriculture is the source of livelihood security for majority of the rural population. Indian agriculture has witnessed several transformations since the beginning of planned economic development. These technological shifts have induced our farmers to adopt new technologies which are not native to our system. Majority of these technologies are imported or indigenously developed on imported ideas. Although these new technologies did help in transforming food deficit nation into food surplus nation, it seems like Green Revolution has run its course. Our paper is a descriptive attempt to trace the development of Indian agriculture along with identifying inherent structural problems it has. The final objective of the paper is not necessarily to give wholistic solutions to the problems but to discuss the issues at hand in hope of creating a conducive environment in academia for finding better solution.
... In the recent past, high cost of agricultural inputs and diminishing economic returns have adversely affected the socio-economic conditions of Indian Farmers. Loss of long-term soil fertility, soil erosion, diminishing water resources, soil and water pollution, salinized ground water, higher incidences of human, plant and animal diseases and increased global warming are the major adverse impacts of over exploitation of agricultural technologies adopted during Green Revolution (Rahman, 2015). ...
With the adverse impacts of intensive green revolution on Indian agriculture, recently the farmers have shown their interest towards the organic and natural farming production systems. Organic concoctions like Jeevamrit / Jeevamrutha which is a microbial culture prepared from the on-farm inputs like cow dung, urine, jiggery and pulse flour has been found a suitable formulation in natural farming to meet the nutritional demands of the crops. Jeevamrit is a traditional fermented liquid organic concoction commonly used as soil microbial enhancer in natural farming. It is a rich source of Bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes and also contains other beneficial microorganisms. It is claimed that the application of jeevamrit stimulates crop growth and repels some of the insect-pests.
... The adverse effects of the Green Revolution on the agro-ecosystems are becoming more visible now and the changing climatic conditions are making it worse ( Rahman, 2015 ). With the growing population, degrading landscapes, and roughly stable cropped areas that have been impacting agricultural output negatively and hence the sustainability of food production, it is increasingly becoming necessary to take land remediation measures to improve soil health ( Singh, 2000 ). ...
The use of chemical fertilizers is expensive and one of the main sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture. On the other hand, the use of organic manure is always debated for low productivity and profitability while many suggest that it is an effective strategy to improve soil fertility, reduce the production cost and mitigate the GHG emissions from agricultural fields. The aim of this study was to assess the technical performance, economic feasibility, and environmental sustainability of various nutrient management practices in three different major cropping systems in Maharashtra. Based on the data collected, a comparative analysis, for the benefit-cost (BC) ratio, GHG emission, and crop productivity, was performed to evaluate the chemical, organic, integrated, and conventional nutrient management practices. The results showed that crops managed with integrated nutrient practices and organic manures showed a higher BC ratio, comparatively higher yield, and lower GHG emissions. In comparison with conventional nutrient practices, the fertilizer-induced GHG intensity was reduced considerably when the crops were treated with organic manure alone (60.17%) and integrated nutrient management (52.21%). The plots treated with organic and integrated nutrient management reported positive BC ratios in most of the crops while plots treated with chemical fertilizers and conventional practice reported negative BC ratios in many crops. Also, the use of organic manure helps in mitigating crop losses caused by bio-physical stresses to a certain extent. Increased use of organic inputs will bring many tangible and intangible benefits which will help to make the agricultural production system more sustainable. The results obtained are helpful to strengthen the recommendation of the use of organic manures to improve soil health, sustain productivity, increase profitability and reduce the environmental footprints of agriculture production systems.
... Injudicious use of synthetic fertilizers in rice production systems is now witnessing series of negative impacts on the environment (Bhakiyathu et al., 2005;Wickramasinghe, 2005;Seneviratne, 2009 andPrakash, 2019). Ultimately, the contribution to global warming and the imbalance of ecological processes are undeniable (Rahman, 2015). Under this context, it is important to identify suitable means for maintaining soil and plant health without risking grain yield and food security (Dissanayake et al., 2014 andRao et al., 2019). ...
... After independence, the challenge was to feed our growing population and the chemo-centric technological advancement during green revolution period boosted the production potential and provided food security to the nation (Swami 2020). The success of intensive agriculture and green revolution in recent decades has often masked significant externalities by affecting natural resources and human health (Rahman 2015). Nowadays emerging realization about conservation of natural resources as well as detrimental effects associated with the use of agrochemicals has shifted attention in alternate forms of agriculture in the world. ...
... On the other hand, a grim story surfaced up as the country was reaping the fruits of success. The agricultural intensification over the years led to degradation of the fragile agroecosystems (Rahman, 2015). Overuse or abuse of the several components of GR led to disastrous consequences for the environment (Pingali, 2012). ...
Green Revolution (GR) marked the era of food self-sufficiency in the country and worldwide. But several prices were paid for the huge leap in agricultural productivity, which occurred in terms of deterioration of soil health, nutrient imbalances, and accelerated soil erosion triggered by agricultural intensification. This article revisits the soil erosion status of India and quantifies in economic and energy terms the cost of losses incurred due to water erosion. The quantifiable loss of nutrients [nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and carbon (C)] from the loss of 1 mm (15 t) soil from 1 ha of arable land is approximated to be Rs. 2155 to 3742 (2020-21 price) which indicates the huge financial losses borne by farmers where the average annual soil loss rate of India is 15.35 t ha-1 year-1. This calls for the shifting of our present agricultural systems towards ecological intensification by following a system approach to achieve productivity gains through maintenance of soil health rather than a single approach like using high yielding seeds, practicing nutrient management, effecting disease control, etc. Such an approach would not only ensure the sustainability of agriculture systems in the future but also attain the cherished target of land degradation neutrality set for 2030.
... After all, drivers of challenges and of change should influence assessments of performance of policies, strategies and interventions. It is ethical to assess Global South communities and societies' efforts to change and grow sustainably if at the same time we consider potential or actual negative outcomes -well-illustrated by, for example, the consequences of global supply chains, commercial interests and ignorance in India's much-lauded Green Revolution (Rahman, 2015;Pingali, 2012). Ethical evaluation done in the Global North must focus systematically on the potentially negative consequences of policies and practices on the Global South. ...
... Since the beginning of the green revolution, Indian farmers started using high-yield seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides to increase crop produce [93]. According to the World Bank, pesticide usage in arable land in India is much higher compared to the rest of the world [65]. ...
India is a leader when it comes to agriculture. A significant part of the country's population depends on agriculture for livelihood. However, many of them face challenges due to using unreliable farming techniques. Sometimes the challenges increase to the extent that they commit suicide. Besides, India is highly populated, and its population is steadily increasing, requiring its government to grow its GDP and increase its energy supply proportionately. This paper reviews integrating solar farming with agriculture, known as Agrivoltaics, as a Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) option for Indian farmers. This study is further supported by the Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis of agrivoltaics. Using the SWOT analysis, this article presents how agrivoltaics can make agriculture sustainable and reliable. This paper identifies rural electrification, water conservation, yield improvement, sustainable income generation, and reduction in the usage of pesticides as the strengths of agrivoltaics. Similarly, the paper presents weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to agrivoltaics in India. The research concludes with the findings that agrivoltaics have the potential of meeting multiple objectives such as meeting global commitments, offering employment, providing economic stability, increasing clean energy production capacity, conserving natural resources, and succeeding in several others. The paper also includes a discussion about the findings, suggestions, and implications of adopting agrivoltaics on a large scale in India.
... Intensification of agriculture to gain self-sufficiency increased crop production in India in the mid-1960s, popularly known as the "Green Revolution". But at the same time, this has resulted in continuous environmental degradation of natural vegetation, soil and water resources (Singh, 2000;Rahman, 2015). Large water control projects had a significant impact on agrarian livelihoods in India (Lahiri-Dutt, 2012;Saxena, 2012). ...
Anthropocene—the recent human-dominated geological epoch during
which humans have intentionally or unintentionally altered the earth’s
environment through various anthropogenic activities, ultimately shape
the biodiversity of this planet. Anthropogenic alteration of nature has a
profound impact on non-human life forms, leading to the sixth mass
extinction. Such a rapidly changing anthropogenic environment has an
impact on both, non-humans living in wild habitats as well as cohabiting
in human transformed habitat. In this chapter, along with providing a brief
account of the effect of Anthropocene, we have discussed two case studies
on two animals—monkeys and elephants—struggling to coexist in such
anthropogenic habitats. Where, even after having such a long history of
cohabitation with humans, monkeys face serious challenges in this dynamic
environment. On the other hand, due to anthropogenic destruction of
natural habitat, the largest terrestrial animal of earth, elephants—have
become environmental refugees, and are forced to live in a human-dominated
landscape. By critically examining these scenarios, we have
tried to evaluate the conservation measures and explore the scopes of
human-animal coexistence in human-dominated landscape.
This chapter deals with the evaluation of global efforts to achieve environmental sustainability. The aim is to assess the impact of industrialization and the efforts made by businesses, corporations, industrial units and governments to check environmental degradation. The strategies that have been adopted by industries to ensure sustainability and a balance between environment and economic growth are evaluated. The chapter examines a number of strategic initiatives being adopted by industries to achieve a balance between the environment, economic growth and society..
Integration between different components of the food system would foster achieving food and nutrition security as a key pillar of sustainable development. Significant improvement has been made in the field of food and nutrition security as well as in institutionalizing integration in food and agriculture, nutrition and health policymaking to achieve sustainable development in the Iranian context, however, the sectors are still operating somewhat in isolation from one another while this is in sharp contrast with the integrative nature of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The aim of this study was to draw a comprehensive picture of the journey from coordination to integration and in institutionalizing food and nutrition security and its policymaking within the framework of national development in Iran. In this study, 43 multi-lateral upstream documents in food and agriculture, nutrition and health sectors were analyzed using a deductive document analysis method. Three series of data coding were performed, including (a) exploring the direct and indirect components of agriculture, food, nutrition and health systems, (b) exploring the policy integration based on processual policy integration framework and (c) Exploring the alignment state of policy components with the SDGs. Our study showed that despite implementing several multi-lateral interventions, and in some cases integrated policies, food and nutrition insecurity are still critical concerns. The study affirms that although remarkable improvements in food and nutrition policy-making and institutional capacity development have been realized, the country’s journey from the “nutrition sciences” to “food and nutrition policy” has not ended yet and integration in food and nutrition policymaking is yet to be achieved in the country. To effectively address the issue, multi-sectoral representation in joint work should be transformed into inter-sectoral integration based on interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral research at policy and integrated operational agenda for all sectors involved. In this process, participation of civil society, women, the private sector and the industry should be well recognized and encouraged.
ZBNF has become a point of discussion in recent years among the agricultural scientists, government, farmers, and several other informal groups engaged in agriculture. This is mainly due to the reason that there are two diametrically opposite schools of thought on this topic co-existing in the country. Under the present study, primary surveys as well as lab analysis of samples were conducted from ZBNF- adopters and non-adopters farmers/fields. The study was carried out in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. The study examined the cropping pattern, crop yields, profitability, etc from the survey data, while soil quality status and nutrients availability were examined by analyzing the plant and soil samples taken from adopter and non-adopter fields during February-May 2019. The results present interesting facts about several parameters related to ZBNF and its implication on farmers and farming.
The continuously increasing population of world has put huge pressure on agricultural lands along with other natural resources to produce more food. Growing use of chemical fertilizer in agriculture could make the country self dependent in food production but on the contrary it deteriorates the environment and human health. During green revolution remarkable food production was noticed in which concern for sustainability was overlooked. Dependence on inorganic fertilizers for future agriculture growth would mean further losses in soil quality, possibilities of ground water contamination and environment pollution. Bio-fertilizer/ bio-enhancer have been identified as an alternative approaches for increasing soil fertility, soil health and crop production in an eco-friendly manner. Bio-fertilizers offer a biological rescue system capable of mobilizing nutrients from non-usable form to usable form and make it available to the plants for nutrition. With the increasing awareness about the role of microbes in maintaining the soil fertility, bio-fertilizers are being produced and used worldwide to increase the crop yield and to maintain the soil health. The global bio-fertilizer market was worth more than US$ 1.8 Billion in 2018, growing at a CAGR of around 14.3% during 2011-2018. As the use of bio-fertilizers is mandatory in organic farming, the bio-fertilizer market is experiencing a strong growth all over the world. Extensive efforts is required to investigate the success / failure issues for application of bio-fertilizers in Indian context emphasizing the need for high degree of innovation and active participation in innovative scientific research and development, public demonstration programmes to enhance the extra - potential of sustainable production development without deteriorating soil health as well as encouraging private organization and new policy makers to take intense role in production and marketing of bio-fertilizer in various cereal and legume crops. Another major factor driving the demand of bio-fertilizers is the increasing implementation of regulatory policies by various governments that favor the use of bio-fertilizers. Currently, nitrogen fixing bio-fertilizers represent the biggest segment of the global bio-fertilizer market followed by phosphate fixing bio-fertilizers.
Green Revolution was a huge success that spearheaded agricultural research for several decades and played an important role in feeding the world by significantly increasing food production mainly in the developing countries. However, in spite of immense turnaround in productivity through Green Revolution, conventional plant breeding has done little to improve the life of subsistence farmers across continents. Formal breeding programs have primarily catered the well-off farmers, and the poor farmers have not reaped the desired benefits. The poor and marginal farmers of the developing countries are faced with problems like inequitable land distribution, insecure ownership, fragmentation of holdings, inadequate irrigation, poor credit facilities, improper marketing, and slow growth of allied sectors remained aloof from this spectacular phenomenon. Participatory plant breeding (PPB) is the development of a plant breeding program in collaboration between breeders and farmers, marketers, processors, consumers, and policymakers. In PPB, farmers and researchers work in tandem with farmers taking a lead role in the design, implementation, and evaluation of the breeding material. The chapter discusses at length the different forms of farmers’ participation in crop improvement.
Organic agriculture is a production system based on the principles of complete sustainability, which guarantees health-safe food products. The chapter's primary goal is to pinpoint all potentials and limitations that affect the development of organic farming in Serbia. To this end, the authors analyze the development of nationally available production capacities, normative framework, and organizational scheme of institutions responsible for the functioning of organic agriculture, available sources of funding, market situation, and product placement. The results of the comprehensive analysis show that despite the minor participation in the world production and trade of organic products, extremely modest share of active farms in organic production, e.g., about 1% of the total number of farms in Serbia, and the negligible percentage of organic areas in the utilized agricultural area (UAA) (0.63%), Serbia could be, according to the growth rate of the mentioned agricultural sector, referred to as one of the regional leaders. Further development of organic production in Serbia is of considerable importance from the following aspects: preservation of the health of the nation, environmental protection and natural resources, employment of young people and women in rural areas, positive impact on slowing down migration to urban areas, and strengthening of the competitiveness of national agriculture and economy, which rely on it, such as rural tourism.
Plant pests, pathogens, and their causal diseases account for more than 40% evidential crop loss. They naturally impede the overall growth and yield of cultivated and stored crops. Measures taken to reduce this damage prompted the use of chemicals as pesticides that, with stern efficiency, repressed pest injury and their infection in the host plant. Nevertheless, the conventional usage of these chemicals as pest control has raised grave concerns due to their detrimental effect on the environment, causing a threat to biosustainability. Strong synthetics used for plant pest control created acute toxicity and pollution to the natural biota. Therefore, these markedly familiar concerns of acute biological harm raised the need for eco-safe biological pest-controlling sources, reducing plant damage and increasing healthy crop growth.
Biological pesticides can be an effective replacement over synthetic chemicals due to characteristic bioresponsivity, reliability, and a reliant high efficacy. Biopesticides are mainly comprised of bio-organisms or their derivatives, including plant-based chemicals, microbio products, and semiochemicals that are conveniently and reasonably available, eco-degradable, employing a suited action mechanism for targeted and increased effectivity for biocontrolling attacking pests. Biological pest control, as an emerging alternative against chemical pest control, indict an inadequate response due to the related insufficient knowledge in overcoming the limiting constraints of biopesticide production. Minimizing chemical usage will deter evolving pest resistance against their plant host, hence promoting the prevalent application of biopesticides. Compellingly, biological pesticides should be widely incurred in the programs of integrated pest management (IPM) as an essential eco-friendly pest-controlling tool. This chapter provides the insights regarding biopesticides as an efficacious alternative of plant pest control, its derivation source, formulation, their varied action mechanisms against controlling the targeted pest, and finally achieving the goals of the sustainable environment and eco-safe agriculture for meeting the needed market demands. Positive recent market trends also indicate an increased shift for adapting the use of biopesticides in India and worldwide.
The Tropical Andes, a vast region spanning over 1,540,000 km² from Western Venezuela to Northern Chile and Argentina, faces huge challenges. Among these are a rapid demographic change and an increasing demand of agricultural goods to satisfy the needs of both rural and urban population. Unfortunately, crop production in this mountainous region is severely constrained by adverse natural factors, among which low soil fertility and cold climates occupy the top positions in the ranking. Considering that agriculture intensification, following the traditional approaches that made possible the Green Revolution, may cause further disruption and degradation of Andean agroecosystems, new strategies are being explored by researchers and farmers to deal with that dilemma. It has been proposed that partial replacement of agrochemicals (fertilizers and pesticides) with bioinoculants – products formulated with living microorganisms with plant-promoting abilities – is one of the measures that might allow to intensify even more agriculture in the Andes, without seriously affecting the environment or threatening human health. In order to maximize profits following this approach, it is imperative to study in depth the microbial diversity present in the Andean ecosystems, to select microbes exhibiting the best plant growth-promoting traits, and optimal performances in the rhizosphere of crops. Here we review some of the recent advances concerning the description of the microbes colonizing the rhizosphere of some important Andean crops; we further highlight important local and regional experiences showing that the development of efficient bioinoculants may certainly contribute to intensify agriculture in the Tropical Andes and, subsequently, to create better life conditions for the Andean small farmers and their families.
Groundwater from 15 centres from different areas of Aligarh district used for irrigation, domestic and canals were collected bimonthly from January 1996 to December 2006 and analysed for pesticides, heavy metals (Zn, Fe, Cr, Cu, Cd, Pb and Ni) and nutrients. The results indicate that pH, alkalinity, NO 3-, F-, PO43-, Cl -, Zn, Fe, Cr, Cu, Cd, Pb and Ni increased continuously during the period of study. The results also denote that upto the year 2000 the alkalinity, NO3-, F-, PO43-, Cl -, Zn, Ni, Cu, Fe and Pb were within the permissible limit while Cr and Cu were at threshold level. After year 2000, F-, Cu, Fe, Pb, Cr and Cd became beyond permissible limit. The concentration of heavy metals was found higher in domestic wells than in irrigation wells. Pestcides viz., 2,4-D, Malathion, parathion, Aldrin/dieldrin in studied groundwater sample were within the recommended limits upto year 2000 while concentration of HCH and DDT was found beyond the permissible limit. These studies also found that the amount of DDT, HCH in irrigation wells became almost constant after year 2002. During these studies it was also found that concentration of 2,4-D became beyond permissible limit after 2001. Results of these studies also denote that concentration of nutrients, heavy metals and pesticides decreased with increase in depth of wells.
Monitoring of 210 bovine milk samples collected from local markets in the Nadia district of West Bengal during 2011 was performed. Samples were collected in summer and winter seasons. Analysis of pesticides was performed by using a multiresidue method validated in the laboratory. The quantification was performed using GC-ECD. Analysis revealed the presence of lindane in less than 1 % of milk samples. Endosulfan I and II were also detected and were found to exceed MRL recommended by Codex. Overall 1.90 % of the analyzed samples showed trace to measurable amount of pesticide residues. The monitored area provided pesticide residues data of milk, assisting in future scientific assessment on pesticide usage.
The large scale use of organochlorine insecticides (OCIs) in developing countries has caused serious concern due to their persistence in the environment. OCIs are characterized by their stability for long periods which may lead to toxicological implication on the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem (Aruda et al. 1988, Cochieri and Arnese 1988, Sarkar and Sen Gupta 1988). About 55000 tons of pesticides are used in agriculture and public health every year (Sen Gupta and Quasim 1985). Continuous use of pesticides to combat pests of this contamination of water has led to spillage and percolation to subsoil systems and water bodies has been a matter of concern even in the developed countries, in view of their risk to communities consuming polluted drinking water. This is the first report of its kind about the residual presence of major OCIs such as HCH and DDT in different sources of water (Wells, handpumps and ponds) samples in and around Bhopal, india. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total number of sixty water samples from different wells, handpumps and ponds were collected from various locations in and around Bhopal, India for the analysis. Each sample of water in replicates of eight was taken (one liter) in 2L separatory funnel and mixed with 3 x 150mL distilled n-hexane (Spectrochem Pvt. Ltd. Bombay), shaken for 30 rain. The organic phase was separated from aqueous phase. The extraction was carried out successively with 3 x 5OmL n-hexane. The combined extract was concentrated to volume of 10 mL with vaccum rotary evaporator at 50~ dissolved in 25 mL distilled acetonitrile (Spectrochem Pvt.Ltd. Bombay) and washed with (4 % w/v) 450 mL sodium sulphate. It was extracted again with 3 x 25 mL portion of n-hexane. The combined n-hexane extract was concentrated to a volume of 1 mL. Each sample was cleaned up prior to GLC analysis using a neutral two step procedure to eliminate known interfering compounds. The n-hexane extract was applied to a mixed phase prewashed chromatographic column containing 1 x 5 cm bed of anhydrous sodium sulphate at the bottom followed by 1 x t0 cm of activated charcoal (E.Merck India Ltd,) in approximately 600 mg celiite 545 (Fishers Scientific) and eluted with 40 mL 5% benzene/hexane.