Sustainable agriculture part - 2

Sustainable agriculture

We think that working with our hands in soil is below our dignity and that only lesser mortals should do this kind of work, but the truth is that working in the soil requires a lot of skill and knowledge: of the weather conditions, of the water types, of the science of seed sowing and a hundred other parameters required to skillfully come out with a successful harvest.

Agriculture is prevalent in all parts of the world; so, it is definitely part of the mainstream, and can’t be put away and ignored. It is only in India that farmers have to undergo such a pitiable plight. In the rest of the world farmers are a respected lot, and now, to support them with scientific and proven facts should be our primary concern.

According to this diagram, sustainable agriculture is at the helm of the people, planet and profit triad. That means that there can’t be any profit without factoring in agriculture; this also means that the planet, comprising of people and profit, makes sustainable agriculture a primary goal. The third goal to make the picture complete is the factor of people. People are important to the environment, and unless we practice sustainable forms of agriculture, we will not be able to maintain the delicate balance in nature of all the biodiversity. Speaking of biodiversity, it is up to us, as an advanced species, to preserve the biodiversity of this planet. We can see that so many birds and animals are now enlisted in the ‘endangered species’ category. This is directly because our inorganic methods of tilling the soil are impacting their life spans so much so that they are not able to survive any more. This is a terrible red signal for the corporate sector to take into consideration ecology and sustainable methods of farming without which our planet stands to witness certain doom.

It is natural that scientists conclude that after the ceasing of certain species, what if humans are next on the endangered list? It is already too late, and our ignorance should not result in dire circumstances for the entire human race.

Global warming is looming large, and add to that the fact that farmers have no real support in their endeavors to provide healthy and nutritious food on the table. We, as a superior race, have mistimed our awareness of these wonderful people, the farmers. India is geographically such a huge country that we can’t afford to take this whole mega group of people lightly any more.

In parts of Vidarbha there are farmer suicides by the dozens, and instead of turning our attention towards their plight and problems, we are turning away from them. Who can be so foolish that as a superior race, we have conquered space, made headway into virtually every scientific discovery on this earth, but we have turned a blind eye towards the needs of the most delicate species on the earth, namely, the farmer. The most urgent demand, then, is to turn our attention to the pitiful calls of our animals, of the silent tears of our earth, and of the terrible wrath of nature. If not now, then when?

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