Crop rotation and diversity should be promoted to mitigate the environmental effects of growing just rice and wheat. Elaborate (200 Words)
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IAS Parliament 4 years
KEY POINTS
· India is the world’s second largest producer of both rice and wheat. Cultivated on 45 million hectares in kharif and rabi seasons, rice production has consistently risen over the years from 104.4 million tonnes (mt) in 2015-16 to 117.9 mt in 2019-20.
· Annual hikes in the minimum support price combined with the system of open-ended procurement through the Food Corporation of India (FCI) have contributed not only to increase in harvest size but also burgeoning public stocks of the two fine cereals.
· In the absence of scientific crop rotation, soil health has deteriorated. Encouraged by free power supply, reckless drawing of groundwater for irrigation has resulted in the water table going down to alarmingly low levels.
Mono-cropping
· The practice of grain mono-cropping needs to change. Crop rotation should be enforced. Ideally, legumes should be cultivated to give a break to grain mono-cropping.
· It is not that policy-makers are unaware of the gravity of the situation. But successive governments at the Centre and in the States have been indifferent to crop rotation in Punjab and Haryana.
· Without doubt, we need rice and wheat for our food security; but there are ways to ensure food security without damaging the environment. In regions of grain mono-cropping, crop rotation must be mandated. If not, procurement of rice and wheat in such regions should be limited to the minimum.
· Growers who practice crop rotation should be incentivised with assured purchase by the government. MSP hikes for rice and wheat can be moderated. In its recommendation to the government, the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices should take into account the environmental cost associated with grain mono-cropping.
· At the same time, there is a lurking danger that needs to be recognised. Indian wheat is at the limit of heat tolerance. Any unusual rise in day temperature during growing season can hurt wheat yields.
· Therefore, over-dependence on the north-western region for wheat cultivation and procurement should gradually give way to promotion of the fine cereal in other States by building robust procurement infrastructure.
· If a certain political will is necessary for reduction of 300,000 ha of sugarcane cultivation, a far stronger political will alone can bring progressive changes to fine cereals cultivation to ensure reduction in financial and environmental costs from a long-term perspective.
