Natural Resources 47

2.5 FOOD RESOURCES

the world out
We have thousands of edible plants and animals over
major food of
of which only about three dozen types constitute the potat0,
humans. The main food resources include wheat, rice, maize,
barley, oats, potato, sweet potato, sugarcane, pulses, sorghum, millet, Resources
Natural
about twenty or so common fruits and vegetables, milk, meat, fish
and seafood. Amongst these rice, wheat and maize are the major
grains, about 1500 million metric tons of which are grown each year,
which is about halfof all the agricultural crops. About 4 billion people
in the developing countries have wheat and rice as their staple food.
Meat and milk aremainly consumed by more developed nations
of North America, Europe and Japan who consume about 80% of
the total. Fish and sea-food contribute about 70 million metric tons
of high quality protein to the world's diet. But there are indications
that we have already surpassed sustainable harvests of fish from most
of the world's oceans.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of United Nations
estimated that on an average the minimum caloric intake on a global
scale is 2,500 calories/day. People receiving less than 90% of these
minimum dietary calories are called undernourished and if it is less
than 80% they are said to be seriously undernourished. Besides the
minimum caloric intake we also need proteins, minerals etc.
Deficiency or lack of nutrition often leads to malnutrition resulting
in several diseases as shown in Table 2.3.
Table 2.3. Impacts of malnutrition

Deficiency Health effect No. of cases Deaths per year

(in millions)

Proteins and Stunted growth, 750 15-20

Calories Kwashiorkor, 1million
Marasmus

Iron Anaemia 350 million 0.75-1

Iodine Goitre, Cretinism 150 million,

6 million

Vitamin A Blindness 6 million

Major food resources of the world are as follows:

" Major crops on which humanity depends as staple food are
wheat, rice and maize. Nearly 1600 million metric tons of
these three grains are grown annually.
 48 Chapter 2
About 60% of the calories consumed by human beings al
over the world, mainly developing countries come from wheat
and rice, thetwo crops belonging to grass family.
In mountain regions, potatoes, barley, oats and rye are staple
food. In northern Europe and North Asia these crops grow
well in the cool and moist climate.
Natural
Resources South Pacifo
In warm, wet areas of Africa, Amazonia and
undergrounds
Sweet potatoes, cassava and other tuberous
crops are the staple food.
" In dry regions of Africa and other desert areas
like that in the
Rajasthan the drought resistant sorghum and millet are
important staple food resources.
A great variety of fruits like banana, mango, apple, grapes,
pineapple, avocado, litchie, pears, plums, citrus fruits etc are
andfibres.
a rich source of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates
Around 20 types of vegetables (including leafy and fleshy)
and vitamins.
are common food resources rich in minerals
About 15 species of pulses are rich sources of proteins.
fish
About six mammals, two types of domestic fowls, a few
species and half adozen marine animals constitute a majority
of the food consumed by humans.
Animal food resources are rich in proteins and fats. Sea food
and sea fish are rich in phosphorus.
. About 80% of all the meat and milk produced in the world is
consumed by around 20% population living in North America,
Europe and Japan.
Just as green revolution" was promoted to boost up our food grain
production, blue revolution" was initiated to produce more fish,
shell fish, shrimp, oysters etc. in aquaculture.
Although India is the 3rd largest producerof staple crops, an
estimated 300 million Indians are still undernourished. We
have only half as much landas USA, but have nearly 3times
population to feed.

2.5.1 WORLD FOOD PROBLEMS

During the last 50 years world grain production has increased almost
three times, thereby increasing per capita production by about 50
But, at the same time population growth increased at such a rate
LDCs (Less developed countries) that it outstripped food production.
Every year 40million people (fifty percent of which are young children
between 1to 5 years) die of undernourishment and malnutritiol.
 Natural Resources 49

This means that every year our food problem is killing as many people as
were killed by the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima during World
War ll. These startling statistical figures more than emphasize the
need to increase our food production, equitably distribute it and also
to control population growth.
Indian Scenario: Although India is the third largest producer of
staple crops, an estimated 300 million Indians are still undernourished. Resources
Natural
India has only half as much land as USA, but it has nearly three
times population to feed. Our food problems are directly related to
population.
The World Food Summit, 1996 set the target to reduce the
number of undernourished to just half by 2015, which still means
410million undernourished people on the earth.
2.5.2 IMPACTS OF OVERGRAZING AND AGRICULTURE

Does production of food and fodder have an impact on

environment?
as
Efforts to increase food production have led to several side efects
illustrated in Fig. 2.11.
Environmental impacts related to food resources

Agriculture
Overgrazing

Traditional Modern
Loss of agriculture
Soil Land
degradation useful species agriculture
erosion

Soil Depletion
Forest of nutrients
erosion
clearing

Pesticide Water Salinity

Impacts related to high Fertilizer logging problem
related impacts
yielding varieties related impacts

Nitrate Eutrophication
Micro
nutrient pollution
Loss of non
Biological
imbalance Pest resistance magnification
target species
problem
effects on environment due to intensive
side
Fig. 2.11 Chain of food production.
practices for increased
 50
Chapter 2
(A) Overgrazing
Livestock wealth plays a crucial role in the rural life of our
India leads in livestock country.
population in the world. The huge population
of livestock needs to be fed and the
grazing
not adequate. Very often we find that thelands or pasture areas are
livestock grazing on a
particular
Natural
Resources piece of grassland orpasture surpass the carrying capacity.
Carrying capacity of any system is the maximum population that can be
Supported by it ona sustainable basis. However, most often, the grazing
pressure is so high that its carrying capacity is crossed and the
sustainability of the grazing lands fails. Let us see what are the impacts
of overgrazing.
Impacts of Overgrazing
() Land degradation: Overgrazing leads to multiple
resulting in loss of soil structure, hydraulic conductivity and coil
fertility as explained below:
" Overgrazing removes the vegetal cover over the soil and the
exposed soil gets compacted due to which the operatíve soil
depth declines. So the roots cannot go much deep into the
soil and adequate soil moistureis not available.
Organic recycling also declines in the ecosystem because not
enough detritus or litter remains on the soil to be decomposed.
. The humus content of the soil decreases and overgrazing leads
to organically poor, dry, compacted soil.
. Due to trampling by cattle the soil loses infiltration capacity,
which reduces percolation of water into the soil and as a
result of this more water gets lost from the ecosystem along
with surface run off.
(in) Soil erosion: Due to overgrazing by cattle, the cover of veg
etation almost gets removed from the land. The soil becomes ex
posed and gets eroded by the action of strong wind, rainfall etc. The
grass roots are very good binders of soil. When the grasses are re
moved, the soil becomes loose and susceptible to the action of wind
and water.
(ii) Loss of useful species: Overgrazing adversely affects the
composition of plant population and their regeneration capacity. The
original grassland consists of good quality grasses and herbs with high
nutritive value. When the livestock graze upon them heavily, even
the root stocks which carry the reserve food for
destroyed. Now some other species appear in their regeneration get
place. These
 Natieral Resource8 S1
secondary species are hardier and are less nutritive in nature.
ivestock keep on overgrazing on these species also. Some
nutritious, juicy fodder giving species like Cenchrus,Ulimately the
Pamicum and Heteropogon ete, are replaced by Dichanthium,
unpalatable and
sometimes thorny plants like Purthenium, Lantana, Xanthium
species do not have a good capacity of binding the soil ete. These
therefore, the soil becomes more prone to soil erosion. particles and, Resource
Natural
As a result of overgrazing vast areas in
Arunachal Pradesh and
Meghalaya are getting invaded by thorny bushes,
fodder value. Thus overgrazing makes the grazing weeds etc. of low
land lose its
regenerating capacity and once good quality pasture land gets
converted into an ecosystem with poor quality thorny vegetation.
(B) Agriculture
15806
In the early years of human existence on this earth, man was just a
hunter gatherer and was quite like other animal species. Some 10,000
to 12,000 years ago he took to agriculture by cultivating plants of his
own choice. He used the practice of Slash and burn cultivation or
shifting cultivation, which is still prevalent in many tribal areas, as in
the North East Hills of India. The type of agriculture practiced these
days is very different from the traditional ones and their outputs in
terms of yield as well as their impacts on the environment show lots
of differences.
What is Traditional Agriculture and its Impacts?
Traditional agriculture usually involves a small plot, simple tools,
naturally available water, organic fertilizer and a mix of crops. It is
produc
more near to natural conditions and usually it results in low
tion. It is stillpracticed by about half the global population.
as follows:
The main impacts of this type of agriculture are
trees in forests to clear
" Deforestation: The slash and burnof loss of
result in
the land for cultivation and frequent shifting
forest cover.
exposes the soil to
Soil erosion: Clearing of forest cover
wind, rain and storms, thereby resulting in loss of top fertile
layer of soil.
burn the organic
Depletion of nutrients: During slash and the nutrients are
most of
matter in the soil gets destroyed and thus making the
the crops within a short period,
taken up by cultivators shift to another
the
soil nutrient poor which makes
area.
 5 2

Chapter2
What is Modern Agriculture and its Impacts?
Modern agriculture makes use of hybrid seeds of selected a3.
single crop variety, high-tech equipments and lots of energy subsidies
in the form of fertilizers, pesticides and irrigation water. The fo
production has increased tremendously, evidenced by
revolution".
Natural
Resources "greenoff
However, it also gave rise to several problematic
shoots. The major impacts of Modern Agriculture are discussed
below:
. Impacts related to high yielding varieties (HYVs): The uses
of HYVs encourage monoculture i.e. the same genotype is
grown over vast areas. In case of an attack by some pathoren.
there is total devastation of the crop by the disease due to
exactly uniform conditions, which help in rapid spre of
the disease.
" Fertilizer related problemns:
(a) Micronutrient imbalance: Most of the cherr al
fertilizers used in modern agriculture have nitro, en,
phosphorus and potassium (N, P, K)which are esse ial
macronutrients. Farmers usually use these fertili rs
indiscriminately to boost up crop growth. Excessive se
of fertilizers cause micronutrient imbalance. For exanple,
excessive fertilizer use in Punjab and Haryana has caused
deficiency of the micronutrient zinc in the soils, which
is affecting productivity of the soil.
(b) Nitrate pollution: Nitrogenous fertilizers applied in the
fields often leach deep into the soil and ultimately
contaminate the ground water. The nitrates get
concentrated in the water and when their concentration
exceeds 25 mg/L, they become the cause of a serious
health hazard called «BIue Baby Syndrome" or
methaemoglobinemia. This disease affects the infants
to the maximum extent causing even death. In Denmark,
England, France,Germany and Netherlands this problem
is quite prevalent. In India also, problem of nitrate
pollution exists in many areas.
() Eutrophication: Excessive use of N and P fertilizers in
the agricultural fields leads to another problem, which is
not related to the soil, but relates to water bodies like
lakes. A large proportion of nitrogen and phosphorus
used in crop fields is washed off and along with runoff
 Natural Resources 53

water reach the water bodies causing over

nourishment
of the lakes, a process known as Eutrophication (eu =
more, trophic = nutrition). Due to eutrophication the
lakes get invaded by algal blooms. These algal species
grow very fast by rapidly using up the nutrients. They
often produce toxins and badly affect the food chain.
The algal species quickly complete their life cycle and Natural
Resources
die, thereby adding a lot of dead organic matter. The
fish get also killed due to toxins and there is a
lot of
dead matter that starts getting decomposed. Oxygen is
consumed in the process of decomposition and very soon
the water gets depleted of dissolved oxygen. This further
affects aquatic fauna and ultimately anaerobic conditions
are created where only pathogenic anaerobic bacteria can
survive. Thus, due to excessive use of fertilizers in the
agricultural fields the lake ecosystem gets degraded. This shows
how an unmindful action can have far reaching impacts.
" Pesticide related problems: Thousands of types of pesticides
are used in agriculture. The first generation pesticides include
chemicals like sulphur, arsenic, lead or mercury used to kill
pests. DDT (Dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane), insecticidal
properties of which were discovered by Paul Mueller in 1939,
belongs to the second generation pesticides. After 1940, a
large number of syntheticpesticides came into use. Although
these pesticides have gone a long way in protecting our crops
have a
from huge losses occurring due to pests, yet they
number of side-effects, as discussed below:
pests:
(a) Creating resistance in pests and producing new even
Some individuals of the pest species usually survivehighly
rise to
after pesticide spray. The survivors give
are now
resistant generations. About 20 species of pests types of
all
known which have become immune to
pesticides and are known as "Super pests".
insecticides are
(b) Death of non-target organisms: Many
spectrum poisons which not only kill the target
broad useful
several non-target species that are
species but also
to us.

Biological magnification: Many of the pesticides are

() accumulating in the food
non-biodegradable and keep on
biological magnification. Since
chain, a process called
 54
Chapter 2
human beings occupy a high
chain, they get the pesticides trophic
in a
level in the fooa
"
which is very harmful. bio-magnified for
Water logging: Over irrigation of
good growth of their crop croplands by
usually leads to farmers for
Natural
Resources Inadequate drainage causes excess water to
underground and gradually forms a continuous column
the water table. Under
waterlogging.
accumulate
with
in the soil get fully water-logged
drenched with waterconditions, pore-spaces
and the soil-air gets
depleted. The water table rises while the roots
get adequate air for of plants do not
soil declines, the croprespiration. Mechanical strength of the
plants get lodged and crop
In Punjab and Haryana, yield falls,
extensive areas
logged where adequate canal water supplyhave becomne w.ter
ortube-well water
encouraged the farmers to use it
to water-logging problem. over-enthusiastically leacing
Preventing excessive irrigation, sub-surface drain ge
technology and bio-drainage with trees like Eucalyptus are
some of the remedial measures to
prevent
Salinity problem: At present one third of thewater-logging
total cultivable
land area of the world is affected by
odtlseven million hectares of land are
salts. In India about
estimated to be
which mnay be saline or sodic. Saline soils are salt-affected
E by the accumulation of characterized
soluble salts like sodium chloride,
sodium sulphate, calcium chloride, magnesium
in the soil profile. Their electrical chloride etc.
4dS/m. conductivity is more than
Sodic soils have carbonates and
bicarbonates of
sodium, the pH usually exceeds 8.0 and the exchangeable
sodium percentage (ESP) is more than 15%.
Causes: A major cause of salinization of soil is
excessIVe
irrigation.About 20% of the world's croplands receive irrigation
canal water or ground water which unlike with
dissolved salts. Under dry climates, the waterrainwater often contains
behind salts in the upper soil profile (Fig. evaporates leaviny
Thousands of hectares of land area in2.12).
Haryana and Punjab are
affected by soil salinity and alkalinity. Salinity
growth and lowers crop yield. Most of the crops causes stunted plant
salinity. cannot tolerate hign
 Natural Resources 55
Evaporation and transpiration

Excessive Salt
iigation crust
Upper soil profile
containing salts
Percolation
of saline Natural
Resources
Rising
irigation water
water table

Clayey Water
layer logged
soil
(less
permeable)
Water
table
Salinization
" Addition of salts occurs with saline Waterlogging
" Rain water and irrigation
irigation water water percolate down
" Evapo-transpiration leaves behind " Water table rises causing
salts as crusts on soil surface water logged conditions
" Salt-build up Occurs in upper
soil profile
Fig. 2.12 Salinization and water logging due to excessive
irrigation with salt-containing water.

Remedy: The most common method for getting rid of salts is to

flush them out by applying more good quality water to such soils.
Another method is laying underground network of perforated drainage
pipes for flushing out the salts slowly. This sub-surface drainage system
has been tried in the experimental station of CSSRI at Sampla,
Haryana. The Central SoilSalinity Research Institute (CSSRI) located
story of
in Karnal, Haryana has to its achievement the success
barren land
Converting Zarifa Viran village to Zarifa Abad i.e. from the
to productive land through its research applications.
)CASE STUDIES
and Rajasthan :
Salinity and water logging in Punjab, Haryana
alarming report of salt-affected wasteland formation in
The first from Haryana (then
connection with irrigation practices came
severalvillages in Panipat,
Punjab) in 1858. Itwas reported that Western Yamuna
command area of
Rohtak and Delhi lying in
suffering from destructive saline efflorescence. The
Canal were
Committee" in 1886 drew the attention of the government
"Reh
 56 Chapter 2

on some vital points showing a close relationship between

irrigation, drainage and spread of "reh" and "usar" soils
The floods of 1947, 1950, 1952, 1954-56 in Punjab resulted in
aggravated water logging with serious
of
drainage
Introduction canal irrigation in 1.2m ha in Haryanaproblems.
resulted
Natural in rise in water-table followed by water-logging and salinity in
Resources
many irrigated areas causing huge economic losses as a result of
fall in crop productivity. Rajasthan too has suffered badly in this
regard following the biggest irrigation project "Indira Gandhi
Canal Project" and the sufferings of a big area in Western
Rajasthan have changed from acondition of "water-stard
wasteland" to that of a "water soaked wasteland'".