Agri biodiversity for farms, farmers, food production

Green revolution has made India a food grain surplus country. It employed high yield variety seeds, chemical fertilisers and irrigation. Unintentionally however, it also promoted degradation of farmlands, depletion of groundwater table and chemical contamination of food. This context explains the observation by Economic Survey for 2015-16 that “Indian agriculture is, in a way, a victim of its own past success – especially the green revolution.”

In the post-green revolution period, farmland productivity is diminishing as a result of high chemical inputs and intense monoculture cropping. However, the demand for food is growing with the rising population, which is projected to be 1.7 billion by 2050.

Moreover, climate change is likely to hamper food production. Declining farm productivity and farmers’ income has become the foremost socio-political issue in the country. The government is however motivated to double the farmers’ income by 2022.

Biodiversity-based sustainable production and technology-driven post-harvest management can help food production and supply. While rich biodiversity at the farm level ensures sustained farmland productivity, technology helps in efficient procurement, storage, processing and distribution of agriculture produce.
As we mark the United Nations International Day of Biological Diversity (IDB) during the present UN Decade of Biodiversity 2011-2020, let us pay our sincere tributes to biodiversity, which enables our very survival on the mother Earth. Biodiversity is the single most important attribute of the natural world that is fundamental to the provisioning of food, water and air.

Land-based food production system cannot be considered as a simple input-output system where seeds, fertiliser and irrigation are inputs to obtain the output of food grains. Several natural processes are necessary to support it - soil turning by earthworms and birds controlling insect outbreak.

These processes occur at the farm level and make food production system sustainable. Plants, animals and micro organisms (collectively called agro-biodiversity) drive and optimise these processes.

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, 75% of food is produced from 12 plant and five animal species. Such limiting of the number of species in farmlands adversely impacts agro-biodiversity including the variety of soil organisms, soil organic matter and soil structure. This impacts food production in the long-term.

Loss of agro-biodiversity diminishes farm productivity. To compensate for the productivity loss, use of chemical fertilisers and irrigation become necessary. Reduced plant diversity at the farm level in favour of cultivated crop sets up a self-reinforcing demand for external inputs which in the long-term acts against sustainable production.

Agro-biodiversity goes a long way in helping farming. Wild plant growth and trees on the boundary of farmlands support the local population of pollinators (bees) and insect- eating birds. While pollinators enable efficient seed-setting and thereby increase crop yield, birds limit the crop loss from insect-pests and diseases. Such growth also reduces the erosive force of wind sweeping the farmlands and help by conserving the farmland soil as well as moisture.

Livestock (cow, bullock, pig, poultry etc) are important component of agro-biodiversity and help by providing animal power (thereby lowering the usage of fossil fuel based energy and CO2 emission), milk and meat, and farmyard manure (contributing to nutrient recycling). Agro-biodiversity thus not only enables sustainable food production but also diversifies farm products and income opportunities for farmers.

The contemporary approach under organic food production practices is to manage all the elements of agro-biodiversity (micro-organisms, bees, birds, livestock, trees) in farmlands for economic viability and environmental sustainability of food production.

Additionally, this approach has human health (chemical residues-free food) as well as resource conservation benefits (water flowing into village tanks and local streams from the cultured landscape is free from fertiliser and pesticide residues).

Agro-biodiversity can be restored at farm level by inoculation of seeds with beneficial soil biota (mycorrhizae, fungi, rhizobacteria and earthworm), crop rotation, low intensity and less frequent tillage, and agro-forestry. Practices like application of farmyard/green manure and planting boundary trees are a convenient way to promote agro-biodiversity and enhance farm productivity.

Low cost option
Restoration and enhancement of agro-biodiversity is a low cost option to deal with the impact of climatic hazard like drought. It is an important component of climate-smart agriculture to build food security under climate change. It further gains importance in view of the fact that increasing food production by expansion of agriculture is not an option due to the scarcity of land resource.

Global programmes like Convention on Biological Diversity, Aichi Biodiversity Targets, and Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development aim at supporting agro-biodiversity based food production for achieving “Zero Hunger”. National and state governments have initiated programmes like agro-forestry, soil health card and micro-irrigation that promote sustainable food production and agro-biodiversity.

Planting of trees to support agriculture by enhancing agro-biodiversity is an important approach adopted by the Karnataka Forest Department (KFD). Tree planting by the farmers is incentivised by the KFD. During the current year, it is proposed to enhance the incentive from Rs 45 to Rs 100 per plant. This sum is payable in three instalments for a surviving plant at the end of first, second and third year of planting.

To give a fresh impetus to tree planting, the state government has declared a special programme to raise six crore seedlings in the state during the current year. Such programmes are particularly significant considering the crop losses experienced (up to 60%) in Karnataka during 2016-17, largely due to drought.

In conclusion, high chemical inputs-based agriculture is unsustainable. Promoting agro-biodiversity in farmlands is a robust approach to support farmer’s income as well as sustainable food production. Planting more trees over cultured landscape is the surest, easiest, cost effective, and sustainable way to achieve it.
(The writer is a Karnataka cadre IFS officer)