Sustainable Agriculture Practices

Wet Summer Crops

• Wet summers are more suitable for crops such as Sorghum, sunflower, and cotton.

Dry Farming Advantages

• Suitable for regions with low annual precipitation
• Helps protect the soil from erosion
• Retains soil moisture

Tree Planting Advantages

• Reduces soil erosion due to strong root systems
• Decreases surface water runoff
• Reduces pollution
• Increases soil biomass content
• Absorbs carbon dioxide, contributing to reducing global warming
• Provides oxygen essential for life
• Creates natural habitats for wildlife

Bunds Advantages

• Bunds reduce water runoff by channeling it along contour lines
• They increase water infiltration and improve soil moisture
• They significantly reduce soil erosion

Gullies Advantages

• Deep ditches or channels that help reduce soil erosion by channeling rainwater
• They can be used for irrigation and recharge groundwater

Windbreak Advantages

• Protects soil from wind erosion
• Contributes to water and air quality by protecting against airborne soil, chemical drifts, and dust
• Provides food sources for wildlife
• Improves agricultural landscape diversity
• Increases irrigation efficiency, potentially leading to a 10% or more increase in crop yields in dry areas
• Improves photosynthesis and water use efficiency due to microclimate changes in humidity and temperature
• Generates additional income through saleable tree and shrub products like nuts and berries

Organic Fertilizers Advantages

• Prevent soil erosion
• Increase physical and biological nutrient storage mechanisms within the soil
• Retain soil moisture
• Eco-friendly and non-polluting
• Lower cost compared to chemical fertilizers

Organic vs Chemical Fertilizers

• Organic fertilizers are naturally derived from decaying plant and animal matter, contributing to soil health and not polluting water bodies.
• Chemical fertilizers are synthesized from chemicals and can cause eutrophication, soil salinity, and groundwater contamination.

Soil Conservation Strategies

• Land use management: Involves choosing suitable land for specific purposes, like crop land, pasture land, woodland, wildlife, and recreational land.
• Vegetative and Mechanical practices: Include methods like strip cropping, tree planting/cropping, foliage crops, and land reforms.

Strip Cropping

• Involves alternating strips of hay, wheat, or other forages with strips of row crops such as corn, soybeans, cotton, or sugar beets.

Tree Planting/ Tree Cropping

• Replanting or regenerating forest areas previously damaged or destroyed
• Creates instant forests

Foliage Crops (Cover Crops)

• Small plants with thick ground foliage like alfalfa, groundnut, and barseem.
• They cover the soil during non-cropping seasons or between plant rows.
• Help prevent soil erosion and retain soil moisture.

Land Reforms

• Redistribute land from the rich to the poor.
• Includes regulations on land ownership, operation, leasing, sales, and inheritance.

Objectives of Land Reforms in India

• Eliminate social inequality by removing exploitation.
• Develop cooperative farming.
• Create an efficient and productive agrarian economy through legislation.
• Redistribute and reorganize land ownership and operational holdings for maximum land utilization.

Combating Deforestation Strategies

• Reforestation: Replanting or regenerating forest areas previously damaged or destroyed.
• Afforestation: Growing plants where forests haven't existed due to lack of trees or adverse factors.
• Energy plantations: Growing specific tree and shrub species for fuel, harvested in shorter timeframes.
• Forest harvesting of non-timber forest products: Harvesting plants, parts of plants, fungi, and other biological materials from forests for personal or commercial value.
• Exploring alternative sources of livelihood: Focusing on eco-development plans like animal husbandry, diversified small-scale processing units, and energy generation.
• Changing consumption patterns: Shifting towards organic and natural food to manage soil, increase productivity, and lessen the need for deforestation.

Van Mahotsava

• A tree planting festival celebrated in India for a week, from 1st to 7th July, to raise awareness about forest conservation.
• Started in 1950 by Dr. K.M. Munshi to encourage tree planting.

Eco Club or Green Club

• Voluntary environment improvement groups
• Aim to increase awareness about global environmental issues.

Energy Plantation

• Growing specific species of trees and shrubs for fuel, harvested quickly.

Deforestation Facts

• 33 million acres of forests are cut down annually.
• Timber harvesting in the tropics contributes 1.5 billion metric tons of carbon to the atmosphere, representing 20% of human-made greenhouse gas emissions.

Combating Deforestation Actions

• Improved agricultural practices
• Paper recycling
• Forest management: Balancing wood removal with new tree growth
• Purchasing sustainably harvested wood products

Reducing Deforestation Consumption

• Buy used wood products.
• Consume less wood products.
• Purchase essential goods in bulk to reduce unnecessary packaging.

Managing Forest Grazing

• Overgrazing: When plants are subjected to excessive grazing without sufficient recovery time.
• Causes:
  • Livestock numbers exceeding grazing land capacity.
  • Grazing repeatedly over the same area.
  • Lack of food driving livestock to consume all available grasses.
  • Poverty preventing cattle owners from stall feeding.
  • Lack of knowledge about overgrazing consequences.
• Consequences:
  • Reduces land's usefulness and productivity.
  • Decreases biodiversity.
  • Contributes to soil erosion and desertification.
  • Potential for invasive species spreading.
  • Loss of livestock due to fodder shortages.
• Control:
  • Practicing rotational grazing.
  • Sustainable grassland management.
  • Social fencing encouraging voluntary grazing restraint.
  • Stall feeding.
  • National Forest Policy, 1988, promoting controlled forest grazing.

Timber

• Wood used for building and other engineering purposes.