BKP Sinha
Despite the ongoing farmers’ stir, one seldom finds any debate highlighting the crunch and its linkage with deteriorating natural resources, which is the main factor behind this crisis
Nature’s laws are immutable. Where forests are removed indiscriminately, drought, pestilence, famine and flash floods rear their ugly heads. When the green revolution came to India in the early 50s, a whopping 1,973.4 million hectare (Ha) of forest land either went under the plough or was destroyed for various development purposes and this process is still going on. Water, soil health and climate change play a major role in making or breaking the agrarian economy. In the context of the above, the role of trees in enhancing and sustaining productivity of the soil, water and biodiversity assumes great significance. Hence, the need for agroforestry research and extension is required in various kinds of marginal land. For instance, in Kenya and in other countries real progress has been made in sustainable agriculture with the introduction of appropriate trees.
The International Council for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) has stated that its central aim is to foster research on the place of woody perennials in combination with crops or animals to solve the problem of small farmers. This approach won over Chinese peasants to forestry. Chinese farmers included timber trees with woody perennials for all purposes like orchards, bamboo, groves and so on, while Chinese foresters encouraged and demonstrated intercropping. It is an irony that despite the ongoing farmers’ agitation and the persistent agrarian crisis in the country, one seldom finds any debate highlighting the crunch and its linkage with the deteriorating health of natural resources, which apparently is the main factor behind this messy situation.
There cannot be any denial of the fact that the health of the ecosystem in India has come to a stage where its carrying capacity has already been stretched to the limit and it seems to be on the brink of a precipice. While India’s overall food production has grown, declining productivity is evident for oilseeds and pulses. In the rainfed areas, yields are declining and rapid land degradation is evident. Even in the irrigated, high-yield crop areas, stagnation is apparent and their sustainability is also a matter of doubt.
The environmental impact of the green revolution that is based on high input and output, is well-documented but the cost of maintaining it necessitates various limits and the economic inequality resulting from this development is apparent now. Two kinds of fertiliser fertility problems are commonly encountered in the country: Low and declining soil fertility. Tackling a decline in fertility is linked to working with nature and assisting the restoration of the natural processes. It may also require external inputs like fertilisers and water along with trees. The result of five years of work of the Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute (IGFRI) Jhansi has revealed a significant reduction in soil nutrient losses and improvement in soil fertility. In a recently-published article in a national daily, Atul Thakur revealed how productive quality and prices are key factors that have combined to keep the Indian farmers poor. Based on quantitative data he observed that returns per Ha from kharif crops as a per cent of inputs and labour cost are steeply declining. He summarised: “Farm returns were falling and low to begin with. Divided over four months of the kharif season the average paddy farmers’ monthly returns were Rs 4,903 in 2013-14. That declined to Rs 4,620 by 2017-18.”
“Furthermore, for other crops, the returns have stagnated. There has been no significant increase in the last five years. This means the Government’s target of doubling farmers’ incomes by 2022 will remain a pipe dream,” he says.
Thakur further observes that India’s yield when compared to other countries, is the lowest per Ha for most crops and uses more land and labour to produce lower yields. Indian agriculture adds 16 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but provides 41 per cent jobs whereas China adds 71 per cent to the GDP with 25 per cent labour and Brazil adds 4.4 per cent with nine per cent labour. Further, due to high inputs Indian farmers cannot compete in the international market because of their high prices.
In India, industrial agriculture was powered by the Haber-Bosch Process that was invented by Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch which produces ammonia for chemical fertilisers. This process makes nature’s fertilisation via sunlight, macrobiotic soils and crop rotation very marginal. Ammonia production now consumes two per cent of the energy supply globally and produces 1.5-1.6 trillion CO2 emissions per year. Nitrogenous fertilisers derived from the Haber-Bosch Process currently provide roughly half of all the nitrogen required for world crops. Organic recycling, manure, crop residues and atmospheric deposition provide another half. In India this ratio must be much higher.
Duke University’s Subhrendu Pattanayak concludes that industrial agriculture is a leading cause of deforestation as it accounted for 80 per cent of it between 2000 and 2010. Soya and palm oil cultivation caused over 30 per cent deforestation across Asia and 70 per cent in Latin America.
Industrial monocropping exhausts soil nutrients, pollutes water channels, destroys habitats and biodiversity. Industrial agriculture costs the world over $3 trillion per annum. Sustainable agriculture with agroforestry reduces soil damage, chemical use, diversifies agriculture and protects habitat for biodiversity.
Sir Albert Howard in his treaties, ‘Soil and Health’, observes: “Forest is an effective agent in the prevention of soil erosion… The trees and undergrowth break up the rainfall into fine spray and the litter on the ground further protects the soil from the impact of descending water streams. The roots and residues of the trees and animal life in all woodlands are converted into humus, which is then absorbed by the soil underneath, increasing its porosity and water- holding power. The trees not only prevent soil erosion but store large volumes of water and sequester atmospheric carbon. Mechanical measures to arrest soil erosion like terracing are secondary matters.
Excessive use of irrigation required for industrial agriculture gradually destroys the binding power of organic matter which keeps the soil particles together. It displaces the soil air, which is vital for the respiratory function of the roots. The main strategy of industrial farming is oriented for rice or wheat at huge indirect and direct cost but keeps farmers away from growing fruits, nuts, vegetables and pulses. Intensive industrial monoculture deserves to be debated throughout the country.
The big question remains that despite all the obvious advantages of agroforestry why has it remained confined so far to a few places, where forest-based industries have pushed it for clonal plantation of eucalyptus or poplar trees? There is no dispute over the capacity of clonal plantations combined with crops in industrial plantations to create jobs through forward and backward economic linkage. The growth of Yamunanagar is a shining example of how the produce of agroforestry acted as the catalyst to change a small township into a vibrant industrial complex.
Anyone who is conversant with soil, water and tree should be convinced about the limitation of industrial agriculture and the potential of agroforestry in the country. However, for large-scale adoption of agroforestry its constraints must be removed first. In such a situation tree plantation can play a complementary role to agriculture and help restore the health of the land.
The writer is a former IFS officer. The views expressed are personal.
