Sustainability Check on Rural India

There is no place as amazing as India for a Geography student to conduct a sustainability check on people’s lifestyles. Indian villages and cities are a class apart when we talk about sustainable practices. Alike other urban dwellers in the world, most Indian townsmen are still on the verge of developing suitable resource management skills. What is different is that people living in villages have an ancient connection to the ‘Go green’ and ‘Best out of waste’ concepts. 70% of the rural households in the country depend primarily on agriculture. The rest migrate to the cities in search of better opportunities. Traditionally farming methods comprised of using organic matter for fertility and rain for irrigation. These methods could not full fill the food requirements thus affected India’s food security. To overcome this, food had to be imported from other countries and in the fifties, the government launched a green revolution. This led to the introduction of HYV (High Yielding Variety) seeds, artificial chemical fertilizers, and pesticides. In the short run, these lesser sustainable methods helped India attain food security to a great extent. As these methods gained popularity, they started causing soil degradation, biodiversity loss, overuse of groundwater, and compromised on food quality.

‘Kedia’ A new face of farming

Since the past decades, there has been a massive realization towards adopting eco-friendly ways of farming. Many individuals and organizations have started to join hands with the government to direct farmers towards a chemical-free and technology-driven route. One such example is ‘Kedia’, a small village in the state of Bihar which has given a new direction to Indian agriculture. Earlier its image was often darkened due to the rash of farmer suicides because of indebtedness. Kedia’s new eco-agricultural model brought in a ray of hope. With the help of Greenpeace India, the village transformed into an eco-farming community. A couple of years back the same place used to be home to infertile chemically loaded fields with absolutely no productivity. Now Kedia comprises only lush green picturesque yielding large quantities of organic food.

How did this happen?

The farmers chose to switch from chemical-laden farming to ecological agriculture. This transition was not easy, but the farmers persevered. The whole idea was to bring the soil back to life by rejuvenating soil health. For that using locally produced biomass-based organic supplements made from cow dung and agricultural residues was a fantastic idea. All the essential nutrients got pumped back into the soil.  By replacing artificial fertilizers, the input costs got reduced by 60% in the first year. In the following year, farmers started producing their seeds and further cut costs. Then within the next few years, farmers installed ‘subsidized Cow dung power plants’ in their homes which helped them charge bore wells. Now a farmer was equipped with all the resources to provide nourishment to plants. The rest of the job was done by Domesticated cattle. They proved to be efficient enough in plowing fields with due respect to small landholdings.  The production scaled up quickly and due to its high quality, the food started to make its demand. As a result, the role of middlemen completely got eliminated and the gap between these farmers and their consumers got bridged. With zero input costs and no brokerage to pay, the Kedia model set an example. It proved that sustainable practices in agriculture are commercially viable. From a poor farming village, it transformed into a learning centre and now attracts influencing researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. This fully sustainable business model is now being replicated in other parts of Bihar and India.

Covid-19 Effect

Kedia was just one success story. Now the sustainability wave is on an all-time high and is making its way to urban minds. There is a new trend for home-composting and organic gardening coming up. This shall solve a dual purpose of food waste management and nutrition.

Coronavirus has thrown light towards focusing on nutrition besides food security. Post lockdown India is witnessing a shift in demand towards ecologically produced agricultural commodities. More and more village households are embracing ecological farming to curb the negative effects of the green revolution. Healthy food fetches a better price. Subsidizing advanced agricultural implements has boosted the sustainability journeys in rural India. Some examples are drip & sprinkler irrigations help save water, Local power generation plants which use cow dung as the raw material help convert waste into electricity and manure, solar panels help generate eco-friendly energy and replace generators to a major extent.

Conclusion

Lives in rural India completely revolves around farming and every member of the family contributes a share in the field.  People had to switch towards lesser sustainable lifestyles, but today’s scenario is a lot different. There are much better prospects and opportunities. Having observed rural India so closely, I strongly believe that innovative science shall help rural India achieve its untapped potential. That day isn’t far when every particle of the earth shall shower its blessings in the form of fresh and nutritious food laying the foundation for a healthier future.