I have addressed most of the issues you raised in my lead paper on coastal ecosystem presented in the Brainstorming Session held on 10 Oct, 2011. I consider them very important not only for the coastal but by and large for any other ecosystem. Following are my general comments as desired.
· What are the major emerging threats the soil resources of India is facing, particularly in the context of climate change, urbanization, pollution, etc.?
1. Decrease in production due to less area per unit head under cultivation as urbanization spreads.
2. Drop in the rate of increase in productivity or even plateauing of the productivity with time has been experienced in a number of areas due to (a) decreasing response to nutrient application, (b) increased susceptibility to pests and diseases, (c) lower crop water productivity due to lower irrigation water availability and increasing drainage congestion, etc. as a result of climate change and pollution.
3. Imbalance of nutrients due to reckless application of nutrients through fertilizers and pesticides leading to eutrophication, hypoxia and formation of dead end zones in large water bodies, relevant particularly for coastal areas. These trends are increasing particularly due to climate change, urbanization and pollution.
4. More and more areas under arsenic, fluoride and heavy metal contamination due to pollution and unplanned use of underground water bodies (detailed mechanism however not yet established in each case).
5. Sedimentation and erosion of soil as well as land subsidence due particularly to climate change, unplanned urbanization/developmental activities
6. Hydrology of rivers is seriously affected due to faster melting of the glacier in the upstream due to warming up of the climate
· What are the scientific and technological options to address these challenges?
1. Evolve a genuinely effective land use policy which should earmark areas not suitable for farming on economic grounds and therefore can be used for other purposes. The overall objective should be not to allow per capita land holding below a limit and thus arrest any further downward slide in production.
2. Trend towards plateauing or non-sustainability of productivity may be arrested if not reversed by adopting any or a group of the following options, (a) soils should be mandatorily evaluated and rated in terms of soil health and not soil fertility per se, for which serious efforts to be made to define soil health valid under different agroecosystems, (b) identify specifically the factors, particularly those which are human induced, and very importantly their interaction matrix, affecting the ecology, with special reference to climate change being imminent, and make long term planning preferably in integrated mode, for sustenance of the ecology as well as the productivity, (c) develop nutrient based fertility management policy for crops as an effective package for inorganic, organic and biofertilizers not with the sole objective not only to increase the productivity but to maintain or improve soil health as well, (d) water resource budgeting and water use policy for each watershed, to be correctly delineated, should be worked out with minimum abstraction of underground water with the overall aim to increase crop water productivity, etc.
3. For use of pesticides, herbicides, etc. residual toxicity in soil must be strictly monitored and specific guidelines evolved for long term use
4. All necessary measures to be followed to maintain hydrology of the rivers and thereby ensure arresting soil erosion and sedimentation, keeping in view future threats on account of changes in the weather (rainfall, evaporation, temperature etc.) and river water flow due to warming of the climate
5. Policies should be worked out to ensure nutrient balance by limiting use of artificial sources of fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals not only for agriculture but also for other sectors so that the nutrients released into soil and water do not flow down to harmful limits to the large water bodies, relevant particularly in coastal areas, to cause hypoxia and formation of dead end zones threatening the aquatic lives, and also to soils, particularly in areas where city wastes and sewage sludge is dumped and cause heavy metal contamination.
· Who are the main possessors and stakeholders of these technologies?
1. Scientists, research consultants and planners/ administrators
2. Farmers
3. Government departments, viz. agriculture, irrigation & waterways/water resource, fishery, forestry, industry, land reforms, town planning, ecology/environment, etc.
4. KVKs, NGOs and Voluntary Organizations
5. Members (representatives) of the civil society
· How to mainstream these technologies for their wider adoption?
Following four-tier approach is recommended following prioritization and development of suitable technologies through research:
1. Basic policies and guidelines to be formulated agroecosystem-wise by the scientists and research consultants in consultation with the concerned departments of the government/ policy makers. It may be wise to formulate policies watershed-wise in each agroecosystem.
2. The above basic policies should thereafter be subject to refinement through threadbare discussion with farmers, in the first hand, and thereafter with all other stakeholders agroecosystem-wise in phases, in order to develop a unanimous approach paper for final approval by the government.
3. KVKs, NGOs and VOs should be actively involved in the process of execution
4. The role of the government through a team (by pooling from related government and non-government departments, ICAR, private individuals, as well the panchayats, with Zilla Sabhadhipati as its head) should be to oversee and monitor the progress in a time targeted manner.
· What are the research and policy needs?
1. Research
(a) Defining and validating the soil health under different agroecosystems
(b) Extensive studies on identifying and characterizing microbes as individuals and as consortia in soil and water and their roles in regulating different soil functions and their interaction with plants
(c) Studies on microbial genomics in order to regulate the functions of genes to address various soil and water related issues
(d) Roles of microbes/ consortia in mitigating different soil stress situations
(e) Factors affecting C-sequestration in soils in different agroecosystems and long-term
monitoring of the same preferably through radiocarbon dating over the past and suggest effective predictive models with special reference to climate change
(f) Climate change and its effect on soil properties and plant growth and developing predicting models for the future in order to plan for mitigation of the adverse effects
(g) Soil erosion and sedimentation in relation to river water hydrology with special reference to
climate change, and develop effective means to restore hydrological balance for mitigating the adverse effects
(h) Water resource budgeting and developing means to increase crop water productivity with
special reference to climate change
(i) Exploring alternate means for creating irrigation water resource, like desalination of seawater, use of alternate and recyclable sources of energy, cloud seeding, etc.
(j) Developing integrated management of irrigation and drainage practices for different agroecosystems
(k) Nutrient based fertility management for crops for long term sustenance of crop productivity and improvement of soil health
(l) Optimizing nutrient balance by regulating nutrient application through fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals for agricultural and non-agricultural purposes so as to eliminate or minimize adverse effects on soil and water microflora and avoid harmful accumulation of heavy metals in soils
(m) Water, carbon and nitrogen footprints and their role in soil-crop management with special reference to climate change
(n) Studies on residual toxicities due to insecticide and herbicide application and develop guidelines to avoid soil pollution and its adverse effects on soil microflora
(o) Study on biogeochemistry of arsenic in aquatic environment in soil and development of multi-scalar integrated risk management
(p) Role of conservation agriculture in enhancing water and nutrient use efficiency with special reference to climate change
(q) Role of conservation agriculture for abiotic stress management with special reference to climate change
2. Policies
(a) Develop effective land use policy and land use ratings to restrict areas for non-agricultural uses in order to regulate per capita land holding for agricultural use within a limit
(b) Policy for development of effective management practices based soil health evaluation
(c) Based on identification of factors and their interaction matrix threatening the stability planning for long term towards ecological sustenance in a watershed
(d) Development of policy on nutrient based package of practices for soil health management
(e) Developing water resource use policy with minimal abstraction of the underground water in a watershed
(f) Developing norms and guidelines for use of herbicides and pesticides to avoid residual toxicities and their harmful role on soil and water microflora
(g) Develop policies on nutrient balance by regulating use of chemicals in agriculture, aquaculture, forestry, industries, and other sectors to avoid harmful accumulation of nutrients and heavy metals in soils and water detrimental to flora and fauna
(h) Developing long term policies, relevant particularly in the context of climate change, to maintain river hydrology and ensure favourable water flow round the year to (i) arrest soil degradation by not allowing accumulation of toxic salts in soils, (ii) help in ground water recharge, (iii) meet water needs for agriculture, forestry, aquaculture and other needs of the society, (iv) minimize risk of river bank erosion and sedimentation, etc.
· How can ICAR and NAAS facilitate this?
1. ICAR is the apex organization for conduct of research and extension through its own research units and SAUs spread all over different agroecosystems. Each organization, be it ICAR institute or SAU, has multi-disciplinary approach with well-equipped facilities to address specific mandates on basic, applied and strategic problem areas, and thus has the ability to serve pivotal role to address the researchable issues listed above at regional or national scale. Each institute/ SAU in a region may use its tentacles through ongoing network via coordinated or externally funded programmes located under different agroecosystems to generate data and validate the results obtained under wide range of situations. The organizations have the power to also tie-up with other institutes (Government, ICAR, non-ICAR, SAUs) specializing in areas relevant to soil, environment, water, weather, etc., if necessary, to address the problems identified at national or regional scale.
2. Though ICAR institutes/ SAUs do not have their primary mandate to address developmental issues, they may act as facilitators to encourage such activities to generate policy papers through consultancies and active support with government or non-government departments. ICAR institutes/SAUs have KVKs under their administrative control, having multi-disciplinary specialists, and therefore may be used in executing the programmes in specific areas.
3. Thus, ICAR through their own units or SAUs may act as epicenter of activities to identify and conduct various research programmes related to studies on adverse effects on soil resources due to climate change, pollution and urbanization; act as facilitator for drawing up policy papers supporting the developments; implement the recommendations through its own KVKs; and finally take part in overseeing and monitoring the progress as a member of the team.
4. Role of NAAS may be viewed as a centre of academic excellence to facilitate (i) prioritization of researchable issues and updating the knowledge gained through discussion across different disciplines and relevant organizations, (ii) develop an effective and rapid system of knowledge sharing among the stakeholders, say on disaster warning on cyclone, earthquake/ tsunami, etc. and other consequential developments like river bank erosion, land subsidence, etc. due to climate change, and (iii) mainstreaming the activities through an effective system of monitoring the progress made in phases in each agroecosystem and finally arrive at a consolidated set of recommendations through linkage among different agroecosystems with problems of similar nature in the country
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