Due to a changing climate, farmers face a variety of difficulties, such as heat stress, wildfires, and extreme weather events, which makes agriculture more unpredictable. Given this, it is essential that governments assist farmers in changing their methods in order to increase resilience and drastically lower their reliance on chemicals derived from fossil fuels.
For almost 58% of India's population, agriculture is their main source of income, and other businesses based on the country's natural resources are the cornerstone of its economic expansion. These industries—field crops, horticulture, livestock, fisheries, and poultry—align well with a number of SDGs (sustainable development goals) of the United Nations, such as combating climate change, enhancing nutrition, and ending hunger, thus donation for farmers is the only way to help them improve their ways and means.
The government forecasts that India's food output in 2019–20 was 291.95 million metric tons (MT), and for 2020–21, the country wants to produce 298.3 MT, a 2 percent increase from the previous year. According to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, 2020, 189.2 million people, or roughly 14% of India's population, are undernourished despite the country's advances. Out of 107 nations, India was placed 94th in the Global Hunger Index 2020. By 2050, food production must quadruple in order to keep up with the nation's growing population and revenue. Achieving the SDGs and guaranteeing India's food security depend heavily on small and marginal farmers. The audacious target of "zero hunger" by 2030 necessitates a thorough, multifaceted strategy for advancing sustainable agricultural and food systems across the country. In relation to sustainable agriculture, is it possible for agriculture to act alone in combating climate change?
WHAT IS ORGANIC FARMING?
An environmentally friendly kind of farming, organic farming makes use of nitrogen-fixing cover crops, biological fertilizers mostly produced from plant and animal waste, and ecologically derived insect treatments. Organic farming has a number of environmental benefits over conventional farming practices. It uses fewer pesticides, prevents soil erosion, lowers nitrate leaching into surface and groundwater, and encourages the recycling of animal waste within the agricultural ecosystem. These advantages do, however, always come with costs. Lower crop yields and increased consumer food expenditures are common outcomes of organic farming. According to research, crop yields from organic farming can, on average, be 25% lower than those from conventional farming, however this difference might vary depending on the particular crop.
Maintaining the advantages organic agriculture offers the environment, increasing crop yields, and cutting prices will be necessary to keep organic products economically viable in the face of expanding global population and climate change with the help of donation for farmers.
ORGANIC FARMING METHODS IN INDIA
When giving donation for farmers they learn crop rotation, composting, green manures, biological pest management, and mechanical cultivation are the main techniques used in organic farming. When farming organically, nutrients are released into the soil to support more sustainable crop growth in a clean, green environment. A crop with a high nutritional value is the desired outcome, and many organic farming techniques are used:
Crop Diversity: Despite its ability to support healthy ecosystems and prevent the extinction of species, this technique is rarely employed, and its promise in organic farming and agriculture is not well studied.
Crop rotation: An essential farming technique to protect soil health and control soilborne pests, it entails growing a variety of crops in various locations each year. By altering the needs and patterns of nutrients, this approach keeps the soil healthy and prevents soil depletion. It also breaks the life cycles of pests, making it more difficult for them to develop and proliferate. The same crop being grown continuously in one area may result in nutritional depletion and a rise in insect populations. Crop rotation is a sustainable method that ensures more resilient and fruitful farming systems by preserving healthy soil, improving nutrient uptake, and managing soilborne hazards.
Soil Management: After agricultural cultivation, the soil loses nutrients and becomes of worse quality. The practice of organic farming promotes the use of natural techniques to restore soil health. This method places a strong emphasis on using beneficial bacteria found in animal dung to help make soil nutrients more accessible, which improves the general fertility and condition of the soil.
Livestock: Organic farming places a strong emphasis on providing milch cows with a balanced diet that includes a mix of dry and green feed as well as appropriate supplements. The farm and the animals both benefit from this all-encompassing approach. These animals live in perfect conditions on the farms, where they can have enough of exercise, wholesome food, and fresh air. Utilizing these robust companion animals improves the sustainability of farms.
Green manuring is the technique of using green, undecomposed plant debris as a natural fertilizer by uprooting dead plants and adding them to the soil to increase its nutritional content. Green manuring usually means growing leguminous plants in the field, letting them develop to a suitable size, and then adding them to the soil to improve its quality.
While the government acknowledges the contribution of agriculture to climate change mitigation, it is upon NGOs operating across India to ensure that measures are taken to improve the environment with the help of donation for farmers.
THE TOP RURAL DEVELOPMENT NGO IN INDIA?
Since its founding in 1995, Search NGO has worked to improve the welfare of India's rural populations. The goal of the leading NGO for sustainable rural development in India is to promote good social, economic, and environmental change by supporting community-driven development initiatives. The goal is to enable each and every person living in rural India to enjoy lives characterized by dignity, security, and prosperity.