Eco-friendly technology useful in soil resources

Reference

'Land restoration, desertification and drought resilience' are of utmost importance in strengthening the environment. Today the whole world is focused on the crisis of desertification and drought. All the countries of the world are worried about the continuously deteriorating quality of land. In the last 15 years, the quality of about 20 percent of the world's land has deteriorated.

Deterioration of land quality is a growing concern

• UNO has celebrated the year 2015 as 'World Soil Year'. Apart from this, the year 2015-2024 is being celebrated as 'International Decade of Soils'.
• India has the 10th largest cultivable land resource in the world. 46 out of 60 types of soil in the world are found in the country.
• National and international agencies estimate that reduction in cultivable land and its fertility will be a major problem in future.
• In many agricultural areas of the country such as Punjab, Western Uttar Pradesh and Haryana etc., the soil is being exploited improperly and excessively due to intensive cropping system and faulty agricultural practices for the last several decades. Due to this, the quality of the soil has declined.
• The use of faulty agricultural practices adversely affects the fertility and productivity of the soil. This problem is becoming even more serious due to lack of knowledge among farmers and inadequate agricultural extension.

Challenges facing soil protection

• Lack of soil testing centres
• Decrease in the use of organic fertilizers
• imbalanced use of nutrients
• Faulty irrigation system and poor quality irrigation water
• formation of a hard layer beneath the soil surface
• Salinity problem
• Improper and excessive exploitation of soil
• Deterioration of agricultural land
• Increasing weed infestation in agricultural land
• soil degradation or erosion

United Nations: Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

• India, along with other countries, has signed the declaration regarding the 2030 Agenda for Global Sustainable Development at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.
• It includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Its aim is to achieve the goal of a 'hunger free world' by 2030 and for this it is necessary to achieve the following goals:
  • Food Security
  • Nutritional Security
  • Soil Protection
  • Livelihood Security
  • Environmental Security
  • Conservation of Biodiversity 

United Nations initiative in soil management

• United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD): UNCCD is a convention to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought through national action programmes.
  • It involves long-term strategies supported by international cooperation and partnership arrangements.
  • Its first conference was held in Rome in the year 1997 and the 16th conference is to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in the year 2024.
  • It is the only international legally binding framework established to address the problem of desertification.
• United Nations Intergovernmental Committee on Climate Change (IPCC): IPCC has said in its report that 23 percent of the arable land in the world has been eroded, while in India 30 percent of the land has been eroded.
  • To deal with this disaster, it is not enough to just stop carbon emissions but changes in the way of farming are also necessary.
  • India has decided to increase its target of cultivating 21 million hectares of barren land by 2030 to 26 million hectares.

Environment friendly technologies for soil conservation

Development of Nano Fertilizers

• The country's largest fertilizer company 'IFFCO's Nano Biotechnology Research Center has developed 'Nano Nutrients' using indigenous technology.
  • In the 21st century, trials of cutting edge nano based nutrients like Nano Zinc, Nano Nitrogen and Nano Copper have been started.
• This newly developed nanotechnology costs 50% less than traditional fertilizers and can increase crop productivity by 15 to 30%.
• This will not only improve the health of the soil but will also reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. Apart from this, this technology is also environmental friendly.

Promoting agroforestry

• Agroforestry is a method of land management in which multipurpose trees and shrubs are grown along with crops and animal husbandry on the same land in a continuous or sequential manner.
  • This not only increases the fertility of the land but also fulfills the ecological, social and economic needs of the region and increases the production of food grains, fodder, fuel, fruits, vegetables and wood.
• "Tree on every Medh" Program: This program started under Agro Forestry Mission will help farmers to earn additional income.
• More than half of the total land in the country is affected by water and wind erosion. This problem can be reduced to a great extent through agroforestry.
• Planting trees along with crops increases the soil's water retention and water absorption capacity. Therefore, agroforestry also plays an important role in soil conservation and its fertility.

Increasing awareness towards coarse grains

• Three-four decades ago, coarse grains were cultivated extensively in India. But a period came when coarse grains were left behind due to wheat and paddy crops. But in the present times, once again people are becoming aware of coarse grains.
• Coarse grains have played a major role in eliminating the problem of malnutrition in mother and child during pregnancy. Coarse grains like kodo, kutki, sawa, kakun, jawa, johri are rich in fiber.
• The cultivation of coarse grains has the quality of storing water. Therefore, there is no need for much irrigation. Also, these can be easily grown even in less fertile land.
• This will also promote diversified farming, which will also increase the fertility of the soil.

Crop Diversification

• Continuously growing the same crops in farming not only reduces the yield of crops but also their quality deteriorates.
  • A single crop system is neither economically viable nor ecologically useful.
• The main objective of crop diversification is to protect rural environment and soil health and to create favourable conditions in favour of agriculture-horticulture-fisheries-forestry-livestock system for maintaining high agricultural growth, generating rural employment and getting better economic returns. 
• Benefits of Crop Diversification
  • Making Agriculture Business Profitable
  • Proper use of natural resources
  • Minimizing the impact of fluctuations in demand and supply
  • promotion of sustainable agriculture
  • reducing the infestation of pests and diseases
  • Reducing risk for small and marginal farmers in rainfed areas
• By making the technology and working system of crop diversification available to the farmers, the food production and resources of the country, mainly the quality of soil can be increased.

Development of Pusa S.T.F.R. Meter

• These days, special emphasis is being laid on soil testing to maintain soil fertility and increase production.
• The Central Government has launched a scheme to provide 'Soil Health Card' to every farmer of the country with the aim of 'Healthy Earth, Green Fields'.
  • Soil Health Card contains various parameters of soil like organic carbon, pH. Detailed information about value, available nitrogen, phosphorus and potash is prepared.
• Soil Test Fertilizer Recommendation Meter (STFR Meter) has been invented to provide soil health card to the farmers.
  • Through this, 14 soil parameters like soil pH, electrical conductivity, organic carbon, phosphorus and potash available in the soil can be determined.
  • It shows soil testing as well as recommended fertilizers for the crops.

Development of Compost Vaccine

• Pusa Decomposer is being used for agricultural waste management. This decomposer vaccine is capable of rapidly decomposing crop residues and other organic matter.
• This vaccine is a group of many microorganisms. It contains four fungi that decompose cellulose, hemi-cellulose and lignin.
• This vaccine is used along with water in ventilated pits so that the material used for making compost becomes moist.

Development of liquid organic fertilizers

• The Microbiology Division, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi has also started production of liquid organic fertilizers.
• Their life span is more than one year. They contain a high number of bacteria. Also, their storage and usage method is very easy.
• These are used for seed treatment for sowing, root treatment for planting and soil treatment for trees.

Production of 100% neem coated urea

• Increasing use of neem coated urea reduces the leaching and denitrification of nitrogen present in urea in the soil.
• Apart from this, nitrogen use efficiency can also be increased by using neem-containing urea.
• Using this technology can reduce crop pests, disease outbreaks and greenhouse gas emissions.

Emphasis on natural and organic farming

• To stop the excessive use of chemical fertilizers, a policy has been adopted to promote organic, natural and integrated farming.
• The online national market for organic products is being strengthened through the organic farming portal.
  • Additionally, efforts are being made to achieve multiple goals simultaneously by emphasizing on the strategy of promoting organic products.
  • This will enable farmers to earn more profits at lower costs due to the increasing global demand for organic products.
  • Besides, excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides will also be curbed. 

Emphasis on Integrated Nutrition Management Techniques (INM)

• Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) techniques for better soil fertility management are also becoming more popular among farmers with adequate publicity.
  • This can not only increase the availability of high quality, healthy and nutritious food items but can also help in reducing the production cost in farming.
• For sustainable crop production, integrated nutrition management involves the use of all sources of nutrients along with chemical fertilizers.
  • Among these sources, cow dung manure, compost food, green manure, poultry manure, vermicompost, crop residue management and organic fertilizer are the main ones.
  • These sources are environment friendly and apart from the main nutrients, micro nutrients also become available to the plants slowly and for a long time.

conclusion

• Soil is a very important natural resource. At present, the states which have achieved Green Revolution are facing the problems of maintaining the level of crop production and excessive exploitation of the soil. The solution to this is being seen in the form of soil restoration and soil fertility management.
• The rapidly growing industrialization and urbanization in the country has reduced the quantity and quality of natural resources like land to produce food grains. In future, there is no other option than increasing the production per unit area so that the food grain production of the country is in line with the increasing population. This will be possible only through proper management of the soil.