Agriculture - Get Started
Over-burdened ecosystems are unable to meet the agricultural demands for large scale fresh water. Therefore, Indian agriculture is in the process of re-inventing itself in many ways. It is reviving the traditional water storage systems for water sustainability and customizing itself to water efficient agricultural practices.
What are the evolving water friendly sustainable practices in Indian agriculture? Can these practices save the traditional varieties of crops and pulses? How does water impact on the different agricultural aspects such as hybrid varieties, genetically modified cash and food crops, and organic foods?
Most importantly, can water security and sustainability bring back the migrating farmers to the fields?
Frequently Asked Questions
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What is sustainable agriculture?
Sustainable agriculture is one that produces abundant food without depleting the earth’s resources or polluting its environment. It is agriculture that follows the principles of nature to develop systems for raising crops and livestock that are, like nature, self-sustaining.
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What are the various sustainable water practices in agriculture ?
For crop irrigation, optimal water efficiency means minimizing losses due to evaporation or runoff. An evaporation pan can be used to determine how much water is required to irrigate the land. Flood irrigation, the oldest and most common type, is often very uneven in distribution, as parts of a field may receive excess water in order to deliver sufficient quantities to other parts. Overhead irrigation, using center-pivot or lateral-moving sprinklers, gives a much more equal and controlled distribution pattern, but in extremely dry conditions, much of the water may evaporate before it reaches the ground. Drip irrigation is the most expensive and least-used type, but offers the best results in delivering water to plant roots with minimal losses.
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How can water and energy be used more efficiently in agriculture?
As stewards of the land, farmers have the unique opportunity to help mitigate climate change and water shortages in a number of ways: improving water-use efficiency, enhancing on-farm water retention, reducing on-farm demand, restoring habitat, protecting open space, increasing soil content and soil moisture, sequestering carbon, and generating on-farm renewable energy from sources such as livestock waste.
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Is there a relationship between agriculture and climate change? Does agriculture contribute to climate change?
Climate change and agriculture are interrelated processes, both of which take place on a global scale. Global warming is projected to have significant impacts on conditions affecting agriculture, including temperature, precipitation and glacial run-off. These conditions determine the carrying capacity of the biosphere to produce enough food for the human population and domesticated animals. Rising carbon dioxide levels would also have effects, both detrimental and beneficial, on crop yields. The overall effect of climate change on agriculture will depend on the balance of these effects. Assessment of the effects of global climate changes on agriculture might help to properly anticipate and adapt farming to maximize agricultural production. To understand more about the relationship between agriculture and climate change, click here This link was taken from Wikipedia.
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I hear that the agricultural sector is going through a crisis. What are the major issues?
Agriculture uses large quantity of fresh water for irrigating crops and this is fuelling the existing water scarcity in India. In addition, the erratic rainfall patterns casts a doubt every year about the agricultural produce. Many farmers are thus taking to alternate professions. This is impacting the agricultural sector which many consider as a non-remunerative or non-lucrative. Thus, water shortage, erratic rainfall, shortage in agricultural produce and migration of farmers are some of the major issues affecting agriculture.
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