Our strategy to deal with climate change usually focused on energy, transport and industrial sectors. Suggest alternative areas where we can focus which is both viable and sustainable.
Refer – The Hindu
RAJESH KUMAR 7 years
VIABLE AND SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES:
KEY: PARIS CLIMATE CHANGE PACT VOWED TO KEEP THE TEMPERATURE BELOW PRE-INDUSTRIAL AGE. BUT AS PER CURRENT SITUATION IT IS DIFFICULT, DUE TO INCREASING CARBON EMISSION.
CURBING OF CARBON:CARBON ONE OF THE SOURCES OF GLOBAL WARMING IS FOUND IN SOIL AND ECOSYSTEMS. SOIL ORGANIC CARBON IS LITERALLY FOUND IN ONE METRE OF SOIL. THIS CAN BE USED TO IMPROVE FERTILITY, GROUND WATER, ETC., CAN BE DONE BY CARBON SEQUESTRATION.
THE PAST: AFTER 1960s GREEN REVOLUTION LAND HAVE BEEN DEGRADED DUE TO OVER USE OF FERTILIZERS, PESTICIDE. IN RETURN THERE WAS OVER UTILIZATION OF GROUND WATER WHICH NEEDED FOR HIGH YIELD RICE AND WHEAT. THERE WAS ALSO DECREASE IN CARBON ABOUT 30-60% IN CULTIVATED LAND THAN UNCULTIVATED.
ALTERNATIVE AND SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES: ONE, ORGANIC FARMING, INSTEAD OF GROWING INTENSIVE CROPS VEGETATION MILLETS SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED. BEFORE GREEN REVOLUTION ABOUT 40% OF CULTIVATED CROPS WAS MILLETS. MILLETS ARE NUTRITIONAL RICH, CLIMATE RESILIENT, NEED LESS WATER/ RAINFALL THAN WHEAT AND RICE, AND IT IS ALSO ECO FRIENDLY.
TWO, CARBON SEQUESTRATION, FOR INCREASE IN ONE TONNE OF CARBON THERE IS INCREASE OF SEVERAL KILOS OF CROP PRODUCTION PER HECTARE.
GOVT. SHOULD PROCURE MILLETS AND DISTRIBUTE IN PDS AND INITIATIVES OF GOVTS SHOULD ENCOURAGE ORGANIC FARMING AND PROVIDE ADEQUATE SUPPORT. IN SUCH A WAY FOOD SECURITY, CLIMATE CHANGE, ENVIRONMENT ALL CAN BE COVERED UNDER ONE ROOF.
IAS Parliament 7 years
Strictly focus on what the question demands. Keep writing.
IAS Parliament 7 years
KEY POINTS
Soil as an alternative
· SOC - Soil organic carbon (SOC) comes from plants, animals, microbes, leaves and wood, mostly found in the first metre or so.
· Soils contain around 2,300 Gt (1 gigatonne = 1 billion tonnes) of organic carbon, making this the largest terrestrial carbon pool.
Benefits
· It helps to address carbon mitigation and also improve conditions of fresh water, biodiversity, land use and nitrogen use.
· Moreover, carbon sequestration in soils has the potential to offset GHG emissions from fossil fuels by up to 15% annually.
· Increasing SOC through various methods can improve soil health.
· It can contribute to agricultural yield, food security, water quality, and also reduce the need for chemicals.
· Utilising this option would thus offer the breathing time before other technologies can help transiting to a zero-carbon lifestyle.
How to achieve?
· There are many conditions and processes that determine changes to SOC content.
· These include temperature, rainfall, vegetation, soil management and land-use change.
· Thus, increasing Soil Organic Carbon involves adopting sustainable agricultural practices to keep these factors in balance.
· The approaches to increase SOC include:
a) reducing soil erosion
b) no-till-farming
c) use of cover crops
d) nutrient management
e) applying manure and sludge
f) water harvesting and conservation
g) agroforestry practices, etc
Way ahead
· India does have a large number of successful sustainable agricultural practices.
· The knowledge of farmers who have successfully experimented with these methods must be considered in research and policy.
· State-level policy makers should identify the kinds of support needed by farmers with small holdings to transition from existing practices.
· The ability of soils to sequester carbon is thus a win-win strategy for farmers, people and for climate change.
