Sustainable Agriculture

Introduction

What is Agriculture in a Broad Sense?

Agriculture is not limited to crop cultivation alone. It includes: Crop production (food and fibre), Livestock farming, Fisheries, Forestry

With the introduction of new technologies, agriculture witnessed:

• Mechanisation
• Increased use of fertilisers and pesticides
• Expansion of irrigation facilities

These changes significantly increased food and fibre productivity and reduced labour requirements.

The Hidden Cost of Modern Agriculture

Although productivity increased, it came at a serious environmental and social cost, such as:

• Erosion of topsoil
• Depletion and pollution of groundwater
• Degradation of water bodies
• Unemployment of farm labourers due to mechanisation

👉 This contradiction — high productivity but high damage — led to the demand for sustainable agriculture.

What Is Sustainable Agriculture?

Sustainable agriculture refers to the production of food, fibre, plant and animal products using farming techniques that:

• Protect the environment
• Safeguard public health
• Ensure human and animal welfare

It integrates environmentally safe practices while offering economically viable opportunities to: Farmers, Farm labourers, Consumers, Other stakeholders in the food system

In simple terms:

Sustainable agriculture aims to produce enough food today without destroying the ability to produce food tomorrow.

Core Principles of Sustainable Agriculture

A sustainable farming system is one that is →Least toxic, Least energy intensive
→Yet maintains productivity and profitability

Examples include:

• Organic farming
• Precision farming (to a certain extent)

A truly sustainable agricultural system:

✔ Supports profitable production
✔ Protects environmental quality
✔ Uses natural resources efficiently
✔ Provides affordable, high-quality products
✔ Reduces dependence on non-renewable resources
✔ Enhances quality of rural life
✔ Is capable of lasting for generations

Sustainable Practices in Natural Farming and Agriculture

A. Mixed Cropping / Diverse Cropping

In mixed (diverse) cropping, two or more crops are grown simultaneously on the same field.

Why is this Important?

• If one crop fails, the others reduce the risk of total crop failure
• Usually:
  • A long-duration crop is grown with a short-duration crop
  • A leguminous crop is often intercropped with the main crop

Types of Mixed Cropping

• Polyvarietal cultivation: Multiple genetic varieties of the same crop
• Intercropping: Different crops grown together (e.g., cereal + legume)
• Polyculture: Different plants with different maturity periods grown together

Advantages

✔ Reduced fertiliser and water requirement
✔ Natural pest control due to multiple habitats for predators
✔ Higher yield per hectare compared to monoculture

B. Monoculture (What to Avoid)

Monoculture involves growing only one crop variety over a large area.

While it may be productive initially, it:

• Requires excessive fertilisers, pesticides, and water
• Causes long-term environmental degradation
• Creates economic vulnerability

Example: Continuous wheat–paddy cultivation in the Punjab–Haryana belt.

C. Strip Farming

In strip farming:

• Main crops are planted in widely spaced rows
• Spaces are filled with another crop

Benefits

• Ensures complete ground cover
• Slows down water flow
• Enhances water infiltration
• Reduces soil erosion

D. Crop Rotation (Multiple / Multi-Cropping)

Crop rotation involves growing different crops in a fixed sequence on the same land.

Why Crop Rotation Works

• Controls pests and diseases
• Improves soil fertility
• Reduces soil erosion

Continuous monocropping exhausts specific nutrients, while others remain unused, leading to:
→ Nutrient imbalance
→ Increased pest attacks

Role of Legumes

• Leguminous crops (e.g., green gram) fix atmospheric nitrogen
• Reduce the need for chemical nitrogen fertilisers

Best Practices in Crop Rotation

✔ Leguminous crops before non-leguminous crops
✔ Low-water crops after high-water crops
✔ Crops requiring less manure after those needing more manure

E. Mixed Farming

Mixed farming combines crop cultivation with livestock rearing.

Advantages

✔ Better use of farm resources
✔ Reduced soil erosion by placing crops on flat land and pasture on slopes
✔ Livestock manure improves soil fertility
✔ Crop residues can feed livestock during low rainfall years
✔ Flexible marketing and feeding options
✔ Acts as a buffer against price fluctuations

This makes farming economically resilient and ecologically stable.

Soil Management: The Foundation of Sustainability

Healthy soil produces crops that are:

• Less vulnerable to pests and diseases
• More resilient to climatic stress

Soil protection measures include:

• Cover crops
• Compost application
• Reduced tillage
• Moisture conservation using dead mulches

Vermicomposting

Vermicomposting is the process of recycling: Animal wastes, Crop residues, Agro-industrial waste → with the help of earthworms.

Materials used include:

• Dairy and poultry waste
• Sugarcane bagasse
• Sericulture residues
• Weeds like Parthenium hysterophorus (before flowering)

Note: Palekar opposes vermicomposting under Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) — a factual point important UPSC.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

IPM treats → The crop, The pest, The environment →as parts of one ecological system.

Key Principle

The goal is not total pest elimination, but keeping pest damage below the economic injury level.

IPM Strategy

1. Continuous field monitoring
2. First use:
   • Biological control
   • Cultivation practices
3. Chemical pesticides are used only as a last resort, mostly plant-based

Components of IPM

Biological Control

• Use of natural predators, parasites, and pathogens
• Example: Predatory mites controlling red spider mites in cucumber plants

Cultivation Practices

• Crop rotation
• Intercropping
• Polyculture

Genetic Resistance

• Pest-resistant crops developed through genetic engineering
• Example: Bt cotton (insect resistance through bacterial gene)

Limitations of IPM

Ø Requires expert knowledge of pests
Ø Acts slower than chemical pesticides
Ø Techniques may not be transferable across regions
Ø Initial costs may be higher