Dr TP Rajendran
Retired Asst. DG (Plant Protection), ICAR, Department of Agriculture Research and Education, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India
My inputs are given below:
Analysis of the complexities and practical problems associated with science-policy interfaces
It is significant to decipher the essentiality and emrgency of the research in agriculture of a country through its plethora of institutes. Practical problems in farms are a traditional experience of farmers over generations. Comprehending these problems across the variation in natural resources including weather changes over several decades is essential to understand how traditions in farming were brought into traditional knowledge systems across continents. In this Anthropocene era, the policy framework is mainly for funding research, financing agriculture with the goal of satiating food security locally in each country and globally in all deserving countries of the seven continents.
Traditional farming knowledge has embedded much science in terms of modern research output. Many rediscoveries could enhance and sharpen the adaptive technologies that are now offered through government-patronised knowledge extension systems as well as by commercial agri-business consultancy systems. All said and done, the target to produce more from diminishing natural resources in the farm lands has driven us to engage in this FAO-discussion too. The paradigm to implement local indigenous farm solutions that would resolve commodity production constraints could provide enough production of those agri-commodities to satiate local food needs. Let’s for once remove from our goals global hunger index metrics and drive country-needs of food requirements under very peaceful political situations. Many global eruptions of conflicts have aggravated global strain of hunger across continents. No matching science and policy can bring any harmony to such people in constant strife.
Knowledge production for policy
Synthesis of local and global scientific and technological output in enhancing constancy in farming in all nations towards deriving benefits of harmonised commodity production has always the challenge to farmers from the markets that eat into the realtime pricing of agri-commodities. In the quest for global food security after securing the UN-sustainable development goals there is very poor synteny of aligned policy from available knowledge reservoir.
Knowledge translation for policy-making
Translation of available national and globally accessible knowledge, science and technology for ‘proftable’ crop commodity production plans get hit when the natural resources of farms do not align well with the policies.
Assessing evidence
Indian Green Revolution era has the typical evidence to show the world that in spite of professed technology and science for finding the miscarriage of goals of sustained and stable crop commodity production without harming natural resources significantly. Unlearning and reinventing traditional crop production strategies has gone into the unwinding of the ‘glorified’ and ‘professed’ promise of satiating all the hungry Indians in the last century. Beyond the conundrum of purchasing power, government subsidised access to food also became challenge due to enormous increase in the costs for paying farmers as well as maintaining the flow of food grains through public distribution network of the states.
Examples
Recent examples for hunting and validating the Indigenous Traditonal knowledge in Indian farming led to the discovery of ‘non-chemical farming’ touted to be ‘organic farming’, ‘nature farming’, ‘chemical-free farming’ and ‘Best farming solutions’. The Indian government has framed policy for ‘traditional farming / organic farming / nature farming and has announced huge investment.
While researchers shunned these systems of crop production for many past decades fearing crash in crop production and productivity, the band-wagon researchers have now come out with prescriptive technology support for the new approach in turning conventional farming practises into tradition-driven practices.
Many islands of such cropping systems where in overwhelming emphasis for microbial agri-inputs are stressed upon in farming practices, have successfully sprung up in Indian states with demonstrable success of sustained crop productivity across seasons. Low to no-tillage farming in addition to enhanced supply of farm yard manure and composts could enhance significantly soil organic carbon beneficially. From national average 0.2 -0.3 percentage the organic carbon content in farms were enhanced to 0.7 to 1.0 in various agroclimatic zones across states resulting in the competitive crop productivity at far-reduced cost of production.
Dr. Rajendran TP