Today activists in India were arrested while demonstrating outside the Indian Parliament during the passing of the Finance bill in Loksabha. The demonstration was to remind the Finance Minister that proposed fertiliser subsidies will not ward off an imminent food crisis.
The present crisis - characterised by degraded soils, yield stagnation and decline in agricultural productivity - is the result of years of indiscriminate use of chemical fertilisers, facilitated by government subsidies.
The newly proposed subsidy reform will continue to promote the use of chemical fertilisers and will only intensify the problem in India. The degraded soils need to be rejuvenated and the only way to do this is through ecological farming.
The Finance Minister has expressed concern over declining agricultural productivity as a response to increased fertiliser usage and proposed a shift to a nutrient based subsidy regime instead of the current product pricing regime to ensure balanced usage. But studies show that agricultural yield is unsustainable even with recommended doses and balanced applications of chemical fertilisers. Our recent report, 'Subsidising Food Crisis' refers to a 14-year study in Punjab to highlight the fact that rice yields declined even when the recommended rates of nutrients are applied.
While it is important to give income support to farmers, our office in India is demanding that their government provide support for ecological farming in order to ensure food security.
Instead of subsidising chemical fertilisers - we are asking the government to look into mechanisms through which it can support ecological farming. Agricultural research needs to re-focus on ecological alternatives, and identify agro-ecological practices that ensure future food security under a changing climate.
After getting arrested, the activists said that they will initiate a consultation process across the country involving farmers and other stakeholders to bring this issue centre stage. Their resolve is strong and they are determined to go back and make their voices heard.
Dr. Reyes Tirado, one of our scientists at the University of Exeter in the UK, is currently in India working on our sustainable agriculture campaign. She writes in her blog:
"Here in India you can feel and taste the beauty of what being close to your food means. Food comes mostly from the farm, without processing, plastic wrapping or list of ingredients (no need for that when you can just see and smell). Food is mostly seasonal. Food is mostly plants. Food is what brings people and earth together.But food is also an urgent need for the one billion people in the world that go hungry every day. Climate change will make this worse. It is urgent that we stop climate change and work for an ecological farming system now.
As a scientist I'm interested in the recent studies that back our definition of ecological farming. Ecological farming ensures healthy farming and healthy food for today and tomorrow, by protecting soil, water and climate. Ecological farming promotes biodiversity, and does not contaminate the environment with chemical inputs or genetic engineering. "
