Ninth International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

India has a long history of agriculture. Over centuries, farmers in this country devised practices to keep our farms sustainable. Practices like mixed cropping, crop rotation, using organic manure and pest management kept our agriculture sustainable. After independence, India faced a food crisis during 1960s due to continuous increase in population. The traditional methods of agriculture in India could not meet the food grain requirements of the growing population. India thus adopted the Green Revolution in 1965 devised by Prof Ernest Norman Borlaug of USA which was a chemical intensive model of agriculture. In the beginning, it had dramatic impact in increasing the food grain production many folds. But things changed for the worse with the systematic destruction of farmlands and food production systems over the last five decades through uncontrolled use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, mono-cropping and other intensive agricultural practices like genetically engineered food crops. India is thus once again facing a food crisis due to unsustainable agricultural practices. Therefore, we need sustainable agriculture to ensuring our food security. Ecological farming is the answer to the problems being faced by agriculture in our country today. It will also keep agriculture sustainable. This form of agriculture conserves our soil and water resources, protects our climate, enhances agro-diversity, ensures biodiversity, meets the demand for food and safeguards livelihoods. In short, it ensures that the environment thrives, the farm is productive, the farmer makes a net profit and society has enough nutritious food.