Gracefully accepting what Mother Nature gifts us year after year, Modern Agriculture has sought to violate her and snatch the last bit from her instantly. While the extracted wealth has flowed steadily towards a handful of centers of power, mankind and especially our farmers as a whole have suffered from loss of the soothing proximity to nature. Experts expect a 40% loss of agricultural land in the next 50-60 years, by which time there will be about 30% increase in the world population and thereby an imminent threat to food security.
A commonality that binds all people, irrespective of their position in any conflict, is that they live in increasing isolation from nature and from one another. A disconnect with nature exists in general, which makes people insensitive to degradation of greenery and waterways. Sadly, this misfortune plagues even the most ardent advocates for the environment. Even today, malnutrition remains one of the biggest health challenges of the twenty first century that can severely impair sustainable economic growth and human development of the country. Government’s inclusion of agriculture as promising means to improve human nutrition should definitely help in create long-term sustainability.
Agriculture World, the monthly magazine focuses on sustainability that explores the relationship between everyday life and the intricate global environmental issues of today Climate, Water, Sustainable farming, Biodiversity, Conservation, Pollution, Nutrition and Future of Food. Agriculture World offers an optimistic yet realistic perspective of our environment, also giving much needed guidance to those who are interested in finding new and relatively easy ways to incorporate sustainability into daily life and farming. Stories in the August issue revolve around some communities who have taken its own time to explore, understand and improvise on practices. Convinced, they are now taking it upon themselves to reach out to the other farmers and are inviting them to explore, creating a learning environment that helps them make informed choices.
Enlisting the various good practices, emphasising needs of change, suggesting recommendations, each author has tried his level best to reiterate and remind the needs of being sustainable in nature, reduce the impact on environment, make food safer across the country. Jyotirmoy Goswami in his article emphasizes the need for a commitment of every citizen to embrace the route of harmony and nonviolence for rural reconstruction.
G.V.Ramanajeneyulu, The Executive Director for Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, explains the need of the nation towards agroecological approaches in his article on the Union Agricultural Budget 2019 and details that the budget lacks in focus on ecological sustainability of farming. He urges each one of us to look across the country for individuals and communities who are trying to elucidate scientific agroecological approaches of farming that could reduce the impact on environment, to make food safer and help farming resilient to climate change. Suresh Ediga, critically reviews the Union Agriculture Budget 2019 and puts forth his views to mitigate the agrarian crisis and explains that the budget is not a mere statement of income and expenditure but it is a powerful tool to envision, plan, prepare, coordinate, monitor and execute. But if this budget itself falls short of the vision to solve the agrarian crisis, then there is no hope left for agriculture.
The UNESCO consultant Garry de la Pomerai reviews a range of the underlying issues and trends adversely affecting our water resources and supply mechanisms around the globe. The paper introduces a few solutions that will potentially aid positive water resource management. He says that Water crisis must not be reviewed as just a local or regional periodic adverse phenomenon such as drought and flood, or as a siloed component addressed only by humanitarian donor WASH strategy, but be respected as an imminent and evolving global transborder catastrophe, realising that “there is not enough to go around now for our ever increasing population needs.
Sustainable Farming, a Collective Learning Approach by PRADAN details the strategies adopted by farmers in Bhandaro village and how they chose to risk going back to organic methods of crop cultivation, controlling diseases and pests through indigenous ways. They brought to life the dying land, ravaged by years of chemical use and the results were better yield, richer soil, and rejuvenated natural resources. Sibu Cherian from Harvest Plus details on Biofortification and the need for Positioning Nutritious Crops as a Cost Effective and Sustainable Solution to Solve Malnutrition. Pratap Mukhopadhyay emphasises on Small Indigenous Freshwater Fish Biodiversity and their Conservation for Nutrition Security & Rural Livelihood Support. Gayathri and Arun Kumar describe the need for Neem leaf meal (NLM) as an ideal candidate for the poultry industry to make their production economically viable and environmentally sustainable. Jitu Mishra in his enticing photostory details on the Traditional water storage structures of Jodhpur and its plight now.
Jodhpur is truly a magical city. Its art, architecture, settlement pattern and more importantly water structures are unique in the Subcontinent but one feels disappointed to see this wonderful water heritage on the verge of extinction. The article on Agricultural Terrorism allows us to actively have a glimpse of furious past at a global level, history and recent developments of agroterrorism, analysis of the real incidents or attacks of the past.
The print edition of Agriculture World is a powerful tool to urge all the Government Departments of Agriculture, organisations involved in agriculture, Policy makers, NGO‘S, Corporates and Industries to join with us in our journey and support our activities to protect the nature that sustains us.
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