Digest- An Inventory of Lost Biodiversity
SaMvaad SaMvaad
Dear friends, please find here the Digest of responses on the query "An inventory of the lost biodiversity". We look forward to your comments and suggestions. Thanks!
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Digest-“An Inventory of lost Biodiversity”
The query “An Inventory of lost Biodiversity” looked into the agricultural development in India due to Green Revolution (GR) and debated on its effect on the biodiversity. Members highlighted while green revolution has increased food production to meet the needs of burgeoning population of India, it has created an imbalance in the ecosystem by focusing on intensive use of external inputs in the form of seeds, chemical fertilisers, pesticides, herbicides and the irrigation.
Members highlighted that the negative impacts of these intensive technologies and inputs are too menacing to ignore on “sustainable growth and development,” that is more than GDP. It covers the cost of destruction of natural resources during the process, especially in case of agriculture, as natural resources are the basis for all life on earth.
They went on to discuss the impact of GR on biodiversity in both irrigated and dry land areas. As GR required intensive external inputs the areas where irrigation was possible came under intensive cropping. Clean agriculture and mono-cropping replaced mixed cropping and subsistence farming. As a result, the increased agricultural production in GR was more focused on wheat and rice revolution. Members highlighted that the extent of loss of natural resources in irrigated areas can be gauzed from the fact that now India has 10-12 million hectares of salt affected soil, a majority of which is unfit for any kind of agriculture. The loss of soil means the loss of diversity of microbes and subsequently vegetative species in such ecosystems. The mono-cropping in irrigated area has almost obliterated the local land races (Traditional variety) of crops. The loss of livestock biodiversity in these areas is also directly linked to intensive crop practices and mono-cropping leaving behind degraded natural resources – depleted soils, sinking water tables and the endangered biodiversity. The loss in diversity also includes the erosion in biomass, green manure and other flora and fauna that maintained the ecological balance within the farms.
However, members debated that irrigated land suffered more is a misconception as dry land agriculture also suffered equally. They highlighted though GR technologies that require favourable conditions (like irrigation, inputs & cash resources and technological advancements) are less rewarding under dry land conditions, on these farms also High Yielding Variety (HYV) seeds of millets are promoted with subsidies which led to loss of diversity within species. These high yielding varieties and hybrids are responsive to inputs like chemical fertilizers and also prone to pests and diseases; and have limited adaptability to perform under adverse conditions like drought and semi-drought situations or erratic and uneven rainfall. Introduction of these improved varieties and mono-cropping practices have led to:
1. The loss of local genetic resources (including fodder species)
2. Replacement of organic manures by inorganic fertilizers has degraded soil biology, fertility and moisture holding capacity over the decades. More than the inorganic fertilizers, the discontinuity of organic manures has damaged the microbial biodiversity of these soils.
3. Livestock species have also dwindled due to changing practices of fertilization and mono-cropping.
4. Another significant damage to these ecosystems is the loss of natural enemies' diversity due to mono-cropping and few varieties grown in place of multi-cropping.
Loss of these resources in farm premises made farming communities more dependable on external resources and subject to greater risks in farming. Members also mentioned few resources that comment on the laudable performance of GR, where the fallout of this chemical intensive farming has not only left India with severe health and environmental hazards (e.g., soil erosion, water contamination, pesticide poisoning, falling ground water table, water logging, salinisation, depletion of biodiversity, and so on), but has also put the long-run sustainability of Indian agriculture and the survival of the farming community itself under question.
Finally, members mentioned that overriding introduction of monocultures of a few varieties and industrialisation of agriculture has resulted in loss of diversity and natural resources the very basis of food, in both irrigated and dry land areas. They mentioned the urgent need to look at the existing successful efforts of an alternative model to meet the challenges of reversing the damage to natural resources and finding new pathways, as this will help in shaping the food policy that retrieves the ecological approach to agriculture and food security. Members provided few resources that document "organic agriculture” as an alternative to the Green Revolution model, which possess the rare potential to qualify for both rain-fed and dry farming areas.
They also mentioned a case study from Tehri Garhwal in the hills of Uttaranchal, where agricultural development has caused serious loss of crop diversity and farmer self-sufficiency. With efforts of the Beej Bachao Andolan, a farmers' movement, now farming communities are reviving the use of indigenous crops and cropping systems. They have also encouraged the growth of low-input organic farming. This case study has implications for India's agricultural policy as it argues that it is possible to combine diversity, productivity, and livelihood security in future agricultural policy. For this, the strategies should emphasize and follow:
1. A mix of high-productivity high-diversity approaches,
2. Building on indigenous biodiversity and knowledge,
3. Transformation of negative repatriation from gene banks,
4. Inter-farmer exchange,
5. Appropriate returns for wider use of farmers' knowledge and resources and
6. The protection of critical agro-ecosystems
Resources:
A revolution long turned brown
Kasturi Das. India Together; August 2004
http://www.indiatogether.org/2004/aug/agr-morechem.htm
Describes the fall-outs of Green Revolution that has left India not only with severe health and environmental hazards but also put the long-run sustainability of Indian agriculture and survival of the farming community itself under question
Conserving Agricultural Biodiversity: The Case of Tehri Garhwal and Implications for National Policy
V. Jardhari and A. Kothari. Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-85307-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html
Examines how agricultural development has caused loss of crop diversity and farmer self-sufficiency, describes efforts of the Beej Bachao Andolan in reviving the use of indigenous cropping systems and highlights the implications of this case study for India's agricultural policy
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