Securing India’s soil health and farm incomes

Nearly one-third of India’s land faces the threat of land degradation. This further adds to the problems of Indian agriculture where the farmer is beholden to the vagaries of nature, now more so with the rising impacts of climate change. Agriculture uses 141 million hectares (mha) out of 328.7 mha of the country, and one of the well-established causes of land degradation is the overuse of chemical fertilizers.

TERI has worked on a range of solutions to make Indian agriculture sustainable and bring better income to its large agricultural workforce. Our state-of-the-art TERI-Deakin Centre for Nanobiotechnology (TDNBC) has developed nano biofertiliser products, which are ready for commercialization and could well emerge as 'disruptive technologies’ in Indian agriculture. Nanobiotechnology has the potential to improve agricultural systems through increase in plant productivity and better crop protection to meet the food demands of a growing population. Compared to bulk form of chemical inputs in crops, use of nanonutrients can reduce nutrient run-off into ground and surface water, thus reducing environmental pollution.

TERI’s nano fertilisers are biologically synthesised from waste and natural mineral materials using indigenous microbial resources. As they are made from natural materials, they do not have the toxic side effects of chemical fertilisers.

Dr Alok Adholeya
Director, TDNBC

However, until this year, India didn’t have adequate guidelines to regulate nanotechnology applications in agriculture and food. On July 7, the 'Guidelines for Evaluation of Nano-based Agri-input and Food Products in India' were released as a result of inter-ministerial efforts of various ministries and government agencies concerned, coordinated by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India. The TDNBC played an active role in conceiving and preparing these guidelines along with the DBT.

I am confident that these guidelines will provide the much-needed impetus to develop nano-based agri-products for boosting the agriculture sector.

Dr Harsh Vardhan
Honourable Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Government of India

TERI also joined hands with the Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU) - a global network comprising 20 countries, that seeks to accelerate a transformation of the world's food and land use systems. The FOLU India consortium, of which TERI is a part, began work on producing actionable agenda, to drive the key transitions that will be needed to achieve the FOLU vision.

We continued our efforts in the field, working with farmers, to advance cold storage solutions to prevent post-harvest losses and food waste. Of the total post-harvest losses of Rs. 92,651 crores per annum estimated in India, nearly Rs. 63,000 crore per annum are due to poor storage facilities.

TERI advocated the use of crop residue – especially in Punjab, Haryana, and UP – to power local solar-biomass cold storage facilities. These would turn crop residue into a resource that can earn the farmer additional income. On the other hand, it would prevent agriculture biomass from being burnt, which leads to the worsening of air pollution in north India, every winter.

Agricultural Residue Management: Solution to achieve better air quality

At a regional level, the vulnerability of agriculture in states like Karnataka to climate change impacts is much more. It has the second largest area in India under rain-fed agriculture, after Rajasthan. In this context, TERI's Southern Regional Centre held a 'Conference on Approaches to Shaping Climate Resilient Agriculture' earlier this year. With an inaugural address by Sh. BS Yediyurappa, Honourable Chief Minister of Karnataka, the conference brought together various stakeholders and developed a proper understanding that will go a long way in evolving a coordinated approach to meet climate change challenges in agriculture.

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