The diverse challenges and constraints of natural resource degradation, climate change, shifts in land-use patterns, increasing desertification, decreasing soil productivity are all affecting food production, nutrition security and livelihoods in India. There needs to be a demand for a paradigm shift in formulating and implementing agricultural programmes in India.
There needs to be research and programs oriented towards Sustainable Agriculture. Strategies and Technological interventions need to focus on reclaiming Ecosystems. A decline in soil structure, biodiversity and quality leads to degraded and fragile agroecosystems. Indiscriminate use of chemicals (skewed N:P:K ratio) and burning of crop residues are degrading Indian soil and jeopardizing the health of its citizens badly. Resource management in farming systems is an interlinked concept covering soil, nutrient, water, crop, forest, livestock and fishery management practices.
United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) will partner on programs and research to improve food, nutrition security and livelihoods in India against the impacts of climate change. They have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) recently.
The World Food Programme works for feeding over million people across the globe and they implement programmes that tackle the cause of Hunger. Through their programmes, WFP focuses on food security and hunger. ICRISAT also works on similar research and programmes in creating long-term solutions to overcome poverty and hunger. They help people grow their own food very scientifically and help make farming profitable. Better farming technologies and techniques are provided for the farmer through their programmes, affordable processing equipment through their research projects are being available and they also teach and empower them to set up better linkages to markets to sell the products and help them build new agribusinesses. Emphasis is also given on women and Youth.
WFP and ICRISAT partnership will see new ideas and frameworks generated not just for India but regionally and globally. Covid-19 Pandemic has pushed people into hunger and farmers into losses at these times of Pandemic we think collaborations like this will help the farming community in improving their livelihoods and food security.
We hope organizations like these will work on tackling climate change, research on traditional crops that are climate resistant, research more on Nutrition gardens, undertake food and security analysis, and spread the information with farmers.
