Sustainable
Agriculture
Dr Soumya Mahesh
Syllabus
• Environment – Definition, scope and significance.
• Agriculture – Definition, scope and significance.
Environmental basis for agriculture and food.
Agricultural patterns in India. Socio-economic pressures
on agriculture. Food security and food scarcity.
• Types of agriculture – rain-fed cultivation and irrigation
– water intensive agriculture – Reservoirs and ground
Environment- Definition
• The complex of physical, chemical, and biotic factors that act upon an organism or an
ecological community and ultimately determine its form and survival.
• 1. Boring: ‘A person’s environment consists of the sum total of the stimulation which he
receives from his conception until his death.’
• It can be concluded from the above definition that Environment comprises various types of
forces such as physical, intellectual, economic, political, cultural, social, moral and emotional.
• Environment is the sum total of all the external forces, influences and conditions, which affect
the life, nature, behaviour and the growth, development and maturation of living organisms.
• 2. Douglas and Holland: ‘The term environment is used to describe, in the aggregate, all the
external forces, influences and conditions, which affect the life, nature, behaviour and the
growth, development and maturity of living organisms.’
Environment- scope and significance
• Scope of Environment: The environment consists of four segments as under:
• 1. Atmosphere: The atmosphere implies the protective blanket of gases, surrounding the earth:
• (a) It sustains life on the earth.
• (b) It saves it from the hostile environment of outer space.
• (c) It absorbs most of the cosmic rays from outer space and a major portion of the
electromagnetic radiation from the sun.
• (d) It transmits only here ultraviolet, visible, near infrared radiation (300 to 2500 nm) and radio
waves. (0.14 to 40 m) while filtering out tissue-damaging ultraviolate waves below about 300 nm.
• The atmosphere is composed of nitrogen and oxygen. Besides, argon, carbon dioxide, and trace
gases
• 2. Hydrosphere: The Hydrosphere comprises all types of water resources
oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, streams, reserviour, polar icecaps, glaciers, and
ground water.
• (i) Nature 97% of the earth’s water supply is in the oceans,
• (ii) About 2% of the water resources is locked in the polar icecaps and
glaciers.
• (iii)Only about 1% is available as fresh surface water-rivers, lakes streams,
and ground water fit to be used for human consumption and other uses.
• 3. Lithosphere: Lithosphere is the outer mantle of the solid earth. It consists
of minerals occurring in the earth’s crusts and the soil e.g. minerals, organic
matter, air and water.
• 4. Biosphere: Biosphere indicates the realm of living organisms and their
interactions with environment, viz atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere
Agriculture- definition
• Agriculture can be defined as the art, the science, and business of
cultivating crops and livestock for economic purposes. At certain
stages of human development, agriculture used to be the only known
means of living.
• It is derived from the Latin terms ager referring to the soil and
cultura to its cultivation. Agriculture is a broad term encompassing all
aspects of crop production, horticulture, livestock farming, forestry
etc.
Agriculture – scope and importance
• Agriculture is the most important enterprise in the world.
• Agriculture is a production plant where the free gifts of nature such as land, water, air, soil energy, etc. are
used as inputs and then converted into a single primary unit that is crop plants and their yield which are
indispensable for human beings. Those primary units are consumed by animals and are converted into
secondary units like milk, meat, eggs, wool, honey, silk, etc.
1. Provides employment:
Agriculture has the contribution of 16% in the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country. The
agricultural sector also provides livelihood to two-thirds of the population. The agricultural sector is
responsible for the employment of 58% of country’s workforce.
2. Significant contribution in country’s exports:
This sector accounts for about 15% of the total export earnings and provides raw material to almost all
the industries i.e. textiles, silk, rice, rubber, paper, flour mills, milk products industries.
Agriculture- scope and importance
3.An important source of resource mobilization:
As the people in rural areas are not very rich, it proves as one of the biggest markets for low-
priced consumer goods.
4. Better Agriculture better is the Food Security of the country:
If the agricultural sector of a country is strong, it acts as-as a wall in maintaining food security
and in the process, national security as well.
5. Important allied sectors:
There are many allied sectors of agriculture like horticulture, silviculture, poultry, dairy, and
fisheries. They have a very important role in the development the rural masses. So there is a
need for the balanced development of agriculture and allied sectors.
Environmental basis for agriculture and food
• To meet a growing global demand for food and fodder, one can opt for increasing
yields through intensification and/or for extending the land base used for agricultural
cultivation.
• Intensification and concentrating food production in the most productive regions may
appear the most efficient way to use the land. However, risks to food security may be
increased, because supply chains become more vulnerable and because of pollution.
• Loss of crop diversity, decline of pollinators and increased vulnerability of
monocultures to diseases are additional stress factors.
• On the other hand, regional or local self-sufficiency and the reliance on extensive
farming systems would require more cultivated land at the expense of natural
habitats.
Environmental basis for agriculture and food
• Agriculture is one of the main sectors affecting the environment through its
direct impacts on land cover and ecosystems, and on global and regional
cycles of carbon, nutrients and water.
• At the global level, agriculture contributes to climate change through emission
of greenhouse gases and reduction of carbon storage in vegetation and soil.
• Locally, agriculture reduces biodiversity and affects natural habitats through
land conversion, eutrophication, pesticide inputs, irrigation and drainage.
• Unsustainable agricultural practices may also lead to direct environmental
feed-backs such as soil erosion and loss of pollinators (because of excessive
pesticide application).
Types of agriculture
• The farming systems that significantly contribute to the agriculture of India
are subsistence farming, organic farming and commercial farming.
Regions throughout India differ in types of farming they use, some are based
on horticulture, ley farming, agroforestry, and many more.
• Due to India’s geographical location, certain parts experience different
climates, thus affecting each region’s agricultural productivity differently.
India is very dependent on its monsoon cycle for large crop yields. Based
primarily on nature of land, climatic characteristics and available irrigational
facilities, the farmers in India practise different types of farming.
Shifting Agriculture
• Shifting Agriculture: In this type of agriculture, first of all a piece of
forest land is cleared by felling trees and burning of trunks and
branches. After the land is cleared, crops are grown for two to three
years and then the land is abandoned as the fertility of the soil
decreases. The farmers then move to new areas and the process is
repeated. Dry paddy, maize, millets and vegetables are the crops
commonly grown in this type of farming. This is practiced in most
parts of India especially North East Region.
• Subsistence Agriculture: In subsistence agriculture, farmer and his family
produce cereals for themselves only or for local market. It is characterised by small
and scattered land holdings and use of primitive tools. As the farmers are poor, they
do not use fertilisers and high yielding variety of seeds in their fields to the extent
they should do. Cereals like wheat, rice, millets are mainly raised.
• 3. Intensive Farming: Intensive farming aims at maximum possible production on
the limited farms with all efforts possible under the circumstances. It is capable of
raising more than one crop a year and huge capital and human labour is employed
on every hectare of land. It is practiced in most parts of densely populated areas.
• 4. Extensive Farming: It is the modern system of farming done on large farms
also known as mechanical farming due to extensive use of machines. Extensive
farm raises only one crop a year and employment of labour and capital per hectare
of land is comparatively less.
• 5. Plantation Agriculture: In plantation agriculture, bush or tree farming is done on
huge areas. It is capital centered and needs good managerial ability, technical knowledge,
improved machineries, fertilizers, irrigation and transport facilities. A particular or single
sown crop like rubber, tea, coconut, coffee, cocoa, spices and fruit crops etc. is sown and
the yield is generally obtained continuously for a number of years. Plantation agriculture
is export oriented agriculture. Most of the crops grown in plantation agriculture have a
life cycle of more than two years. It is practiced in Kerala, Karnataka, Assam and
Maharashtra.
• 6. Commercial Agriculture: Commercial Agriculture is practiced to raise crops on a
large scale with a view to export them to other countries and earn money. This type of
agriculture farming is done mostly in sparsely populated areas. Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana
and Maharashtra, mainly practice this type of farming. Wheat, cotton, sugarcane, corn
etc. are some of the commercial crops.
• 7. Dry Land Farming: Dry farming or dry-land farming may be defined as a practice of
growing crops without irrigation in areas which receive an annual rainfall of 750 mm – 500
mm or even less. In dry land farming, moisture is maintained by raising special type of
crops. Gram, jowar, bajra and peas are such crops which need less water. It is practiced in
low rainfall areas or where there is inadequate irrigation facility. This is practiced in dry
areas of the country such as western, north-western India and central India.
•
• 8. Wet Land Farming: Wet land farming depends mainly upon rains, so it is practiced in
high rainfall or well irrigated areas. In this type of farming rice, jute and sugarcane are
grown. This type of farming is prevalent in the north, north-eastern India and on the slopes
of the Western Ghats.
On the basis of seasons, crops grown in India can
be classified as follows
•—
• (i) Kharif: Kharif crops are grown with the start of monsoon till the beginning of
winter (June-July to October-November).
• Rice, maize, millets, cotton, groundnut, moong, urad etc. are kharif crops.
• (ii) Rabi: Rabi crops are sown with the start of winter till the beginning of
summer (October-November to March-April).
• Wheat, barley, gram and oilseeds are rabi crops.
• (iii) Zaid: Zaid crops are grown in short season of summer. Watermelon and
cucumbers are zaid crops.
