Why there is a need of awareness campaigns to bring tangible changes in fight against climate change and building sustainable agriculture?

It is relatively easy to formulate new policies and programmes for sustainable agriculture in India but it is quite difficult to ensure farmers embrace them.

Why India needs to act fast?

• India has lost over 100 million hectares due to serious degradation, desertification and salinisation.
• India has witnessed a many-fold increase in extreme weather events since 1950 and will be severely impacted by production variability.
• In India, soils are being lost up to 100 times faster than they can form.
• High temperatures are increasing the incidence of pests and diseases. This will necessitate the use of more chemicals on the farm.

Hence it requires active participation of stakeholders and aid of indigenous and local knowledge to address the issues of climate change and sustainable agriculture.

Adopting Alternative Approaches

The alternative approaches involve a combination of different kinds of crop planting practices, different forms of mechanisation, aggregation and distribution of commodities.

Adopting alternative approaches requires a paradigm shift towards principles of agroecology and pursuing farmers by repurposing subsidies for ecosystem services.

Pursuing farmers necessitates investing in awareness campaigns to ensure farmers embrace them.

Topics: GS-III: Conservation Environmental Pollution Degradation