Fractured/Earth

after the stories on dryland agriculture and the crisis in indian agricultural soils, there is this…

It’s incontrovertible that Indian agriculture needs an overhaul. Yields are plateauing. Agricultural soils are weakening. Groundwater levels are collapsing. Farmers are leading lives of increasing desperation. The big question is: how do we fix agriculture? Does the answer lie in genetically modified crops? Or, perhaps, in organic farming? More balanced fertilisation? According to I P Abrol, director, Centre for Advancement of Sustainable Agriculture (CASA), and chairman of the Working Group providing inputs to the 12th plan on natural resource management and rainfed farming, the answer lies in conservation agriculture. A new approach towards agriculture where the emphasis is on protecting the farmer’s natural resources – not taking them for granted.

take a look. i am not a convert. conservation agriculture still sounds like the current approach with a bit of mulch thrown in. will have to read up more on this sometime. that apart, in the weeks ahead, this theme — on the different thoughts/ideas on how to revive indian agriculture — needs to be developed further.