Indian farming needs seed of change

In the past, improving crop productivity was the main focus of research. While this strategy contributed to productivity gains in select crops and in more favourable environments, the need now is to enhance productivity across varied agro eco-regions and focus on a wider array of crops and sectors. These and increasing concerns of the widespread problem of natural resource degradation call for a shift from crop specific to eco-region specific strategies.

The term eco-region refers to an area which is relatively homogenous with respect to biophysical and socio-economic features. The eco-regional approach has several advantages over the crops-specific approach. It allows for the building of a farming systems perspective, which reflects resource endowments and socio-economic conditions. The approach helps build an enhanced partnership between the scientific community and the farmers, on the one hand, and with the development community, on the other. It enables better targeting of the research agenda at the local, regional and national levels. Importantly, the approach permits research and development strategies which integrate the concerns of enhanced productivity while maintaining and improving the quality of the natural resource base. Defining an eco-region is crucial here. Three set of criteria are important — agro-ecological, socio-economic and administrative.

In the past, efforts have been made to demarcate agro-ecological regions. The country was divided in 20 agro-ecological regions and later into 60 sub-regions. But unfortunately the process of research planning and extension has largely continued to be top-down, with the focus on individual crops.

Operationalising the eco-regional approach will call for the involvement of both the states and the Centre. Agriculture being a state subject, the onus for operationalising the approach will be on the state agricultural universities which are the key institutions providing back up knowledge. At the central level, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, which is the coordinating agency, will play a critical role in conceptualising an eco-regional framework which is flexible, open to evolution and aligns the national agenda with state priorities.

By way of illustration, take Punjab. The problems facing agriculture here can be broadly viewed as those represented by three distinct agro eco-regions — the submontane region, commonly called the ‘kandi’ region, which is largely rain-fed; the central zone dominated by the rice-wheat cropping pattern; and the western zone where cotton-based cropping dominates. The problems being faced by the farmers in the three regions are distinct. While declining water tables and soil and water quality are the main concerns in the central zone, it is the problem of rising water table, saline underground water and the adverse impact of agro chemicals/ pesticides that worry farmers in the western zone. The ‘kandi’ region is different in that the problems relate to recurrent droughts, widespread erosion, migration, etc. Thus while the central plain zone (rice-wheat system) is contiguous to similar regions in Haryana and western UP, the problems of the kandi region are similar to those facing farmers in Himachal Pradesh, J&K and Uttaranchal.

The eco-regional approach constitutes a paradigm shift and has wide implications for the way the agricultural research system is structured. Most importantly, the approach provides a basis for system-based thinking in conceptualising and executing research agendas. Its successful evolution demands a new vision.

The writer is director, Centre for Advancement of Sustainable Agriculture, New Delhi