Foreword by H.S.Sen, President, Society of Fertilisers and Environment for the Newsletter# 5(2)

Research focus on soil, water and fertilizer practices under changing climate

Having dealt by far specific research areas of environment related aspects over the last nine issues it is decided for the current volume to discuss comprehensively the impacts and roles of three major and interacting domains affecting farming in relation to climate change, and suggest future research needs to combat the progressively declining scenario of the former especially in the context of India. 

In India, 17% of global population resides in only 2.3% land mass supported by 4% of fresh water resources. Besides, about 5 billion tonnes of soil is washed away every year taking away with it nearly 6 million tonnes of nutrients due to poor soil and water management practices. Emphasis on application of major nutrients has triggered widespread deficiencies of secondary and micronutrients like sulphur (41%), zinc (49%), boron (33%) with other micronutrients, e.g. iron, copper, manganese, molybdenum, etc. The water scenario is equally gruesome. Per capita availability of water has radically reduced from over 5000 m³ in the 50’s to a meagre 1656 m³ in 2007 and is speculated to be well less than the internationally prescribed level (1700 m³) to 1140 m³ by 2050. Currently almost 80% of this water is generally allocated to agriculture, but in all likelihood, it could be cut down by 10-15% due to challenges from other sectors like domestic, industry, power, etc. Having considered all these, crop production is surmised to increase at a rate of 4% in the coming decades which is only possible if we are able to manage our soil and water judiciously in the face of changing climate-induced soil and water ecology, the latter alone is most alarming to the society and possibly an irreversible process.

Earth’s temperature is on the rise, as evident from the 11 warmest years out of 12 years between 1995 and 2006 with 0.74°C increase recorded between 1906 and 2005. Increased level of greenhouse gases (GHG), such as carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane and carbon monoxide, has led to the global warming. Projected scenarios of global warming indicate that the global average surface temperature could rise by 0.3 to 6.4°C by 2100. Uncontrolled human activities, such as irrational agriculture, burning of fossil fuels, changed land use patterns and related practices are among the major sources of GHGs. Worldwide, the net effect of climate change will be to decrease stocks of organic carbon (C) in soils, thus releasing additional carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere and acting as a positive feedback, further accelerating climate change. Soil managers, therefore, are ordained with the dual task of chalking up adaptation measures for maintaining organic carbon stock on one hand and formulate practices that would not furtherance climate change while water managers have to devise adept policies to secure water for food security in the face of global warming-induced water scarcity in near and distant future.

Future research needs towards adaptation and mitigation for fostering productivity against climate change

Climate modelling

• GCMs should be carefully devised for each agro-ecological zones.

 Soil & Fertilizer

• Soil carbon being the single most important crop growth parameter, simulation studies on soil carbon dynamics in enhanced GHG scenarios need to be done.
• Change in other nutrient dynamics should be studied with greater precision, say using isotopic techniques.
• More effective techniques for sequestering soil carbon need to be devised.
• Social, economic and environmental suitability of diversification with bio-energy crops should be properly assessed.
• Economic feasibility and social acceptability of organic farming systems should be assessed.
• Focus on monitoring soil properties should be applied in terms of soil health; and GoI should introduce ‘soil health card’ in place of ‘soil fertility card’ as currently under practice.
• Increasing fertilizer use efficiency
• Arresting soil erosion
• Land restoration and land use changes

Water

• There is a mismatch between the large-scale models on climate and catchment, which needs further resolution.
• Impacts of changes in climate variability need to be integrated into impact modelling efforts on hydrology and water management, with apprehension for decreasing reliability especially of the hydro-power dependency of irrigation planning in national and state sectors.
• Improvements in coupling climate models with the land-use change, including vegetation change and anthropogenic activities including irrigation and water management, are necessary.
• Climate change impacts on water quality are poorly understood. There is a strong need for enhancing research in this area.
• Despite its significance, groundwater has received little attention from climate change impact assessments, compared to surface water resources, which should be re-enforced.
• Water resources management clearly impacts on many other policy areas (e.g., energy projections, nature conservation, etc.). Hence there is an opportunity to align adaptation measures across different sectors.

In this issue, the theme areas of soil, fertilizer and water management practices and future research needs for sustainable agriculture and environment have been included. Paradigm shift in fertilizer technologies and their efficient use from the points of view of increasing productivity with higher nutrient use efficiency, improved soil health, alongside restoration of the environment have been proposed. Use of rice straw burning, its impact on environment and alternative measures to mitigate adverse effects are discussed, whilst the impact of sewage effluent on heavy metal contamination in soil, its uptake by plants and impact on the environment have been analysed.

HSSen

President