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Sustainable & Natural Farming

Sustainable agriculture aims to meet current food and textile needs without compromising future generations, using less energy and supporting biodiversity. Key features include soil health management, water conservation, resource conservation, and energy efficiency, supported by various government initiatives. Challenges include low adoption rates among farmers, reliance on chemical inputs, and climate vulnerability, with suggestions for scaling up chemical-free farming and fostering collaboration among stakeholders.

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18 views3 pages

Sustainable & Natural Farming

Sustainable agriculture aims to meet current food and textile needs without compromising future generations, using less energy and supporting biodiversity. Key features include soil health management, water conservation, resource conservation, and energy efficiency, supported by various government initiatives. Challenges include low adoption rates among farmers, reliance on chemical inputs, and climate vulnerability, with suggestions for scaling up chemical-free farming and fostering collaboration among stakeholders.

Uploaded by

nileshamate11
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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C-23-HO-21

Sustainable & Natural Farming:


Intro: Sustainable agriculture refers to meeting society’s food and textile needs in the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
It uses up to 56 % less energy per unit of crops produced, and supports greater levels of biodiversity
than conventional farming.

Key Features of Sustainable agriculture:

Features of Sustainable Agriculture Government Initiatives for Promotion


Soil Health Management: ▪ Soil Health Card Scheme
reducing the need for synthetic fertilizers and ▪ Nutrient Based Subsidy Scheme
pesticides by improving soil fertility, ▪ Paramparagat Krishi Yojna
structure, and biodiversity
Water Conservation: ▪ Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana improve
encourages efficient water usage through the irrigation coverage, reduce wastage of
practices such as drip irrigation, rainwater water, using 4-pillar strategy:
collection, and crop selection, that is water 1. Accelerated Irrigation Benefit
efficient. Programme (AIBP:)
2. Har Khet ko Pani
3. Watershed Development
4. Per drop more crop
▪ Mulching and Fertigation
Resource Conservation: ▪ Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme
Crop rotation, cover cropping, and precision ▪ Use of Nano Urea
irrigation are all techniques that assist ▪ PM-PRANAAM
conserve resources and maintain ecological
equilibrium.

Energy Efficiency: ▪ PM-KUSUM :pump tube wells for irrigation


It promotes the adoption of renewable energy and sell extra energy to discoms for parallel
technology income
optimizing machinery use and shortening
transportation routes

IAS Exam Congress Mains-2023


Social Responsibility: ▪ National Mission on Natural Farming
promotes education and capacity-building following steps have been taken:
projects to provide farmers with the ▪ Farmer Producer Organisations (FPO)
knowledge and skills they need ▪ Farmer Field School – for awareness
creation

Climate Change Resilience: ▪ Rainfed Area Development (RAD)


It encourages the use of climate-resilient crop Programme
types, as well as agroforestry and conservation ▪ National Innovations in Climate
agriculture. Resilient Agriculture (NICRA)- ICAR

Approaches to the Circular Economy: ▪ Generation of Power from crop Residue:


promotes composting, recycling agricultural • Pelletiazation
leftovers, and using renewable inputs. • Torrifaction
Adopting Modern Agriculture Practices • Apiculture: maintenance of honey bee colonies,
commonly in hives, by humans
National Bee keeping Mission Launched
• Aeroponics, Hydroponics, Aquaponics

Challenges in Sustainable agriculture:


According to Council on Energy, Environment, and Water (CEEW), less than 4% of Indian
farmers have implemented sustainable farming practices and systems.
• Decline in Yields: Sikkim:

o Eg: the first organic state in India has seen some yield declines following conversion to
organic farming
• farmers in India rely significantly on chemical inputs such as synthetic fertilizers
• fragmented landholdings, poorer agricultural mechanization, and lower public and private
investment in agriculture.
• Smallholder farmers may not have enough acreage to execute crop rotation or agroforestry
systems efficiently.
• Water Shortage and Irrigation Issues
• India is extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change, including altering rainfall
patterns, droughts, floods, and heat waves
• difficulties in accessing premium markets and fair rates for their products.
• farmers are ignorant of the potential benefits of sustainable practices or how to properly
adopt them.
• The following are some of the conflicts that must be resolved:
o Food vs. fuel/fibre/fodder: conflicting land uses
o Income today vs. income tomorrow: Building capacity to increase risk appetite to invest
for long-term gains.
o Farmer vs. consumer: Producing what consumers want vs. consuming what farmers
produce.
o Market vs. government: Well-intended government interventions that may cause market
distortions.

IAS Exam Congress Mains-2023


C-23-HO-21

Suggestions to scale up chemical-free farming.


• focus on promoting natural farming in rainfed areas beyond the Gangetic basin. Home
to half of India’s farmers, rainfed regions use only a third of the fertilisers per hectare
• enable automatic enrolment of farmers transitioning to chemical-free farming into the
government’s crop insurance scheme, PM Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) to avoid any risks
• promote microenterprises that produce inputs for chemical-free agriculture
• leverage NGOs and champion farmers who have been promoting and practising sustainable
agriculture across the country.
• beyond evolving the curriculum in agricultural universities, upskill the agriculture extension
workers on sustainable agriculture practices
• government should facilitate an ecosystem in which farmers learn from and support each other
while making the transition
• support monitoring and impact studies
• dovetail the ambition on millet promotion with the aim to promote sustainable agriculture.
Instead of the two remaining in silos, why not promote chemical-free millets and create
awareness about both

Conclusion: reaching toward the goal of sustainable agriculture is the responsibility of


all participants in the system, including farmers, laborers, policymakers, researchers, retailers,
and consumers. Each group has its own part to play, its own unique contribution to make to strengthen
the sustainable agriculture community.

Refrence:
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/agriculture/climate-resilient-agriculture-systems-the-way-
ahead-75385
https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/beginners-guide-sustainable-farming
https://sarep.ucdavis.edu/sustainable-ag
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/partner-content-getting-back-to-nature
https://nmsa.dac.gov.in/
https://newsonair.com/2023/03/14/what-is-indias-action-plan-for-climate-resilient-agriculture/
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/roadmap-for-india-natural-farming-ambitions-
nirmala-fm-budget-7788054/

IAS Exam Congress Mains-2023

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