‘Re-aligning Agri-food Policies for Protecting Soil, Water, Air and; Biodiversity (SWAB)’ | Current Affairs | Vision IAS
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‘Re-aligning Agri-food Policies for Protecting Soil, Water, Air and; Biodiversity (SWAB)’

Posted 24 Apr 2024

2 min read

  • ICRIER released a report on Agri-Food Trends and Analytics which sheds light on the influence of agri-food policies on India's agricultural production and emphasizes on synergy of SWAB for sustainable food systems.

 

  • Impact of agri-food policies on SWAB
 Current Status/ IssuesRecommendations
Soil 
  • ~36% of soil samples in India exhibit organic carbon deficiency
  • Only ~34% of nitrogenous urea is absorbed by crops.
  • Switch to direct cash transfer instead of fertilizer subsidies.
  • Brick making should switch from using top soils to fly-ash of thermal plants.
Water 
  • Share of groundwater irrigation increased from 29% to 60%, while that of canal irrigation has reduced from 40% to 25% between 1950-51 and 2021-22.
  • Availability of free and unmetered electricity resulted in disproportionate extraction of groundwater and decline in water levels.
  • Promote micro-irrigation such as drip and sprinkler systems.
  • Diversification of crop procurement aligned to local agro-ecologies. 
  • Alter rice cultivation and irrigation practices, including the adoption of alternate wetting drying, Direct Seeded Rice, etc.
Climate Change
  • India’s agriculture sector, excluding land use change and forestry emissions, contributed ~13.44% of overall GHG emissions in 2023.
  • Emission Intensity of crops is increasing whereas it is declining for livestock sector.
  • Premium MSP for low-carbon crops to encourage farmers shift to low-carbon cultivation practices.
  • Explore carbon market for carbon farming credits in agriculture sector.
  • Tags :
  • Agriculture
  • Agri-food Systems
  • Impact of Agri-food Policies
  • Sustainable Food Systems
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