Report of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel - Part II : Actionable points for the WGEA : 2.2 Agriculture

Opinion
       20/11/2018
                1554.

SUB : Report of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel - Part II : Actionable points for the WGEA : 2.2 Agriculture

REF : 2.2 Agriculture

The ecology of the Western Ghats has been subjected to enormous damages, often irreparable, from the time of shifting cultivation (punam krishi) of tribal and other indigenous communities since centuries to the current intensive monoculture of commercial crops such as tea, coffee, cardamom, rubber, pineapple, and timber plantations. Till the advent of the British, the culture of growing single crops was never heard of in the mountains. This was essentially because agriculture was meant for assuring food security and income generation was achieved partly through the collection of various spices and other forest produce. This practice and concept underwent a major change since the last century by the introduction of tea, coffee and teak plantations initiated by the British and later supported by the Government of independent India. Various commodity Boards were established to support each crop, to expand their cultivation, production and marketing.

Issues of Concern :-

The expansion of commercial plantations in the Western Ghats has led to fragmentation of forest, soil erosion, degradation of river ecosystems and toxic contamination of the environment. The use of pesticides like DDT was started in the tea plantations during the British period itself. Of late, the quantity of toxic pesticides being pumped into the plantations is so huge that not only has it impacted the ecology and biodiversity of the Ghats, but has also made agriculture unsustainable. This was more evident in the late nineties when the price of commodities came down, largely due to the changing trade policies, leading to farmer suicides and closure of many plantations especially of tea. The economic uncertainty again led to destructive crop shifts, thus further adding to the problem. The introduction of water guzzling crops and varieties aggravated the problem. Most farmers have realized this. Environmental groups raised concerns and asked for more sustainable management practices. In recent years, scientists have also been raising the issue of soil erosion and environmental contamination.

One of the most crucial ecological issues of great concern is that degradation and contamination of soil and water in the upper reaches of the Ghats gets carried downstream leading to the degradation of midlands and coastal regions. Therefore, a policy shift is urgently warranted curtailing the environmentally disastrous practices and switching over to a more sustainable farming approach in the Western Ghats.

In order to accomplish this, the following major changes are to be brought into the current agriculture development in the whole of Western Ghats through a policy supporting the environment and integration of various State departments and other agencies working in the region. A separate strategy would be needed for large plantations and small farmers. Since commodity Boards play a major role in agriculture development in the Western Ghats and since they come under the Ministry of Commerce, a clear policy direction would be needed to support sustainable agriculture development in this region. Furthermore, it must be recognised that food security as usually measured by cereal consumption (wheat and rice) is not the same as nutritional security which requires the consumption of a diverse diet of many agricultural products. To put such a policy change in practice covering the entire Western Ghats, a coordinating agency with executive powers would be essential. The proposed Western Ghats Ecology Authority will be the best suited one for this task.

Measures for Mitigation/Improvement :-

1. Landscape planning in select regions /locations: Identify locations where planning can be done based on the landscape characteristics, treating each area as part of a larger landscape and integrating various cropping systems and other development into it.

2. Shift from monoculture to polyculture/mixed cropping systems: The large extent of monoculture plantations such as tea, coffee, and cardamom needs to integrate more indigenous crops, especially food crops and edible fruiting trees best suited to the locality, to help reduce soil erosion, improve water holding capacity of the soil, enhance productivity and, improve economic returns from unit area. Necessary policies need to be formulated in each State to accommodate this unavoidable change. Implementing them will not be that difficult since most of the large plantations are in leased lands from the Government with specific conditions. Both private and public sector plantations should follow a polyculture/ agro-forestry approach. Government-owned plantations should set a model by taking the lead to bring in such a change for sustainability. Apart from this, each plantation has to set aside a percentage of its area, to be fixed, if need be, by a proper scientific assessment, for natural regeneration , especially near water sources.

3. Encourage/Support ecological soil conservation measures in the Western Ghats: The current approach of constructing stone pitched bunds in plantations and small farms needs to be abandoned and support be given for growing live hedges and soil and water binding crops.

4. Discontinue the use of weedicides: Of late, the use of weedicides in the Western Ghats has increased to such a large extent that they have become a menace to biodiversity, including many economically valuable species. Further, it has led to the emergence of more hardy weeds. Hence, there is an urgent need for restricting the use of weedicides in the Western Ghats and to progressively ban them according to their hazardous nature. One of the major reasons for going in for weedicides, according to farmers, is that they are more economical than employing manual labour or other mechanical methods. It is, therefore, important that Government subsidise labour for weed removal. One option is to provide MGNREGS support to small and marginal farmers and subsidies for mechanizing weed control in the large plantations.

5. Phase out the use of insecticides and fungicides: The need for curtailing the use of chemical pesticides and fungicides is of greater priority in the Western Ghats than elsewhere, as application of these ‚poisons‛ in the higher hills gets carried downstream polluting the entire wetland systems. Therefore, there has to be a coordinated programme and action plan for the entire Western Ghats to ease out the use of insecticides and fungicides within a period of 5-10 years in a phased manner and, bring in No Pesticide Management and organic practices for pest and disease control. The Organic Farming Policy of Kerala (Appendix 1) could be adopted as a model not only for the Western Ghats, but also for all the six States benefitted by the mountain system. Areas need to be selected on a priority basis for implementing the same. Plantations and farms lying adjacent to the forest areas and water sources have to be taken on priority and the programme integrated with the annual plan of the respective Panchayat. Financial and technical supports need to be provided to the farmers during the transition period.

6. Encourage use of organic manures: Use of chemical manure has not only killed the soil biota but also has even changed the soil structure affecting soil fertility in the Western Ghats. This leads to application of an increasing quantum of chemical fertilizers without any scientific basis. Since fertilizers demand more water, there is an increased and unsustainable exploitation of water resources in the Ghats affecting the entire ecology of the hills and downstream. Therefore there is an urgent need for evolving organic management practices. Supports/ subsidies need to be provided for practices such as on- farm development of organic manure, crop rotation, and raising green manure crops. Production of organic manure should be completely decentralized promoting production in the ward level. Self-help groups/ local entrepreneurs should be supported to set up units for the manufacture of organic farming material such as good quality organic manure, oil cakes, and bio-fertilizers so that good quality manure can be assured on time. Large plantations should produce organic manure in their plantations themselves so that more employment can be generated along with ensuring application of organic manure.

7. Financial support to organic farmers: Yield loss in the first two to three years has to be compensated by the State. This could, probably, be done without causing much additional financial burden to the State, provided the subsidies and supports given to the agro-chemicals are diverted for supporting the organic and ecological framers. The whole organic farming programme has to be integrated with the annual programme of the Panchayat and provision given for it in the annual budget. At least 20% of agriculture and horticulture and 10% of plantation in each Panchayat should be converted into organic production every year, making food crops in the whole of the Western Ghats poison-free within the next five years and cash crops within the next 10 years.

8. Selection of crops and varieties: The current policy of introducing high yielding varieties and hybrids for improving productivity need to be revisited to accommodate ecological sustainability in management practices. Many of the crops and varieties in cultivation are highly water-intensive and also input-intensive. This has to be completely discouraged by identifying such crops and consequently developing crops and varieties which are less demanding. Local nurseries and seed banks of such crops need to be developed to meet the needs of the farmers. The basic approach for production in the Western Ghats should be for quality produce rather than just quantity and a separate strategy and network should be developed for marketing these good quality products. Value addition and local employment generation should be another strategy to generate more income and improve the local economy.

9. Agro-biodiversity conservation and crop improvement: It is quite indisputable that since the Green Revolution the country has lost many of its traditional local cultivars and other biodiversity elements in the agro-ecosystem. It is more so in the Western Ghats which has been the store house of diversity of most of the cultivated varieties of grains, vegetables, tubers, and fruits. Determined efforts need to be taken to identify, restore, protect and conserve the genetic resources in the farmers’ field itself, even while developing ex-situ conservation centres also. A participatory plant breeding and crop improvement programme needs to be launched at the Panchayat level with farmers, including women, to restore traditional varieties and develop good varieties suitable for each locality. It may be noted that mountain ecosystems naturally have a diversity and local adaptability of cultivars and hence the seeds developed for the plains and other regions may not perform well in this area. Conserving locally adaptive varieties may also become extremely relevant in the context of climate change.

10. Make the Western Ghats free of Genetically Modified crops, trees and animals: The biodiversity of the Western Ghats, one of the biodiversity hot spots of the world, although not yet fully documented, has been the source of original genes responsible for the present day cultivars. It is therefore vital to conserve them and guard them from genetic contamination from unnatural sources such as GM crops and GM trees. Since genetic contamination of local varieties from GM crops is an established fact, no attempt should be allowed to introduce GM crops in the Western Ghats. Not even open field trials should be allowed. However, Bt cotton, the first genetically modified crop in the country, is being cultivated in some parts of the Western Ghats. Immediate action is called for to stop this practice and farmers involved should be supplied with non-Bt cotton seeds. They should also be encouraged to go the organic way and a separate marketing channel opened up for cotton farmers in the Western Ghats. Attempts are being made to introduce GM trees such as GM rubber. This should never be allowed.

11. Awareness building: Awareness building among different sectors including consumers, traders, policy makers on a regular basis on the indispensability of sustainable agriculture development in the Western Ghats is a must to ensure larger social support for the implementation of various programmes. Various innovative methods have to be adopted for the same using the creative energy of local communities.

12. Educating children about organic and ecological farming and their role in conserving the biodiversity of the Western Ghats: The importance of the Western Ghats, especially its role as a source of water and as a genetic store house of cultivars, the need for conserving its biodiversity, the role of ecological agriculture in limiting the damage to the ecosystem, and such topics should be taught formally and informally in all the schools and other educational institutions in the Western Ghats states in the local languages.

13. Forest corridors: Plantations between the forest patches used by animals for movement should be abandoned and steps taken to gradually revert them back to forest where ever required.

14. Forest patches within and along the streams in the plantation: Forest patches within the plantations and the forest vegetation along the course of the streams and rivulets are to be protected as they are havens for biodiversity. Many endangered, endemic species have been reported from these ‚islands of biodiversity.‛ Expansion of plantations into these areas should never be allowed.

15. Community forestry: Community forestry should be encouraged to help provide necessary manure, fodder for farming, fuel wood and other needs.

16. Wildlife problems: One of the major problems for farming in the Western Ghats is the destruction caused to it frequently by the wildlife. While farmers should be compensated for crop loss, change of crops unsuitable for wildlife may be considered. In the case of wild boar which is a menace to agriculture in many places, the only solution, probably, is to cull them under strict guidelines and make commercially viable value added products as cottage industry. While crop change may control the damage to certain extent in the case of herbivores, farming in forest cleared areas which were traditional migratory route of elephants may have to be abandoned. Farmers thus affected need to be adequately compensated.

17. Marketing: Strategies focusing on :

(a) maximum profits to the farmers reducing the middlemen,

(b) fixing premium prices, for produce resulting from conservation efforts as done for Costa Rican Coffee,

(c) linking the products of organic practices in the Western Ghats to local and regional markets,

(d) securing carbon credits for organic farmers and,

(e) ensuring Government support for all these efforts should be developed and implemented under the overall supervision of the proposed Western Ghats Ecology Authority

18. Tribal farming: A separate strategy on priority for tribal farming to revive their traditional farming methods and culture, bringing back the traditional cultivars and food culture needs to be developed.

19. Research: Research related to agriculture and horticulture in the Western Ghats region should give priority for restoration of traditional cultivars, and developing locally suitable, low cost organic farming technologies and practices. Local educational and research institutions should be encouraged to take up research projects to help farmers shift from non-organic methods to organic agriculture.
These are some of the ways forward for protecting the natural, cultural and social foundations of the Western Ghats and ensuring the integrity of this unique mountain system.

NEXT : 2.3 Animal Husbandry

To be continued ..

JAIHIND
VANDE MATARAM

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