In India, the practice of crop diversification has been identified as crucial by the Department of Economic Affairs in its annual Economic Survey. This method of adding new crops or cropping systems to a farm’s agricultural production could alleviate water stress in areas where staple crops are grown and assist in boosting oilseed production to decrease the dependency on imported cooking oils.
Crop diversification takes into account the different returns from value-added crops that offer complementary marketing opportunities. These practices are not limited to solely changing the type of crops grown but also involve altering the agricultural strategies employed on a particular field over a period of years.
Types of Cropping Systems
Among the major cropping systems in India are sequential-cropping, monocropping, intercropping, relay cropping, mixed-cropping and alley cropping. Farmers also often employ a mixed crop-livestock system to increase their income and improve their living standards. This system incorporates animal husbandry and livestock raising – practices involving the breeding, farming and care of farm animals for various advantages.
The Need for Crop Diversification: Adversities and Climatic Vagaries
Farmers confront numerous adversities and weather-related uncertainties during agricultural production. Unpredictable rainfall, damaging hail, droughts, floods, and other disruptive events pose substantial challenges. Further exacerbating these issues are post-harvest losses, storage complications, limited access to effective marketing, human-wildlife conflicts, forest fires, soil degradation due to organic matter deficit, plant diseases, infestations, human migration, and an overall youth disinterest in pursuing agricultural activities.
Challenges in Maintaining Input Cost and Nutrient Depletion
For over 50 years, Indian agriculture has grappled with steadily rising input costs aimed at enhancing productivity. Further, following government-endorsed cropping patterns such as rice-wheat-rice has depleted specific nutrients from the soil, leading to deficiencies and a reduced microfaunal population. This reduction in the soil’s microfaunal population is of serious concern, as these organisms play a critical role in mobilising and absorbing necessary nutrients. Reduced diversity in cropping patterns also increases the likelihood of insect and pest attacks.
Introduction to Agroforestry and its Role in Crop Diversification
Agroforestry, a system that combines trees, crops and livestock in a strategic manner, is rooted in indigenous technical knowledge and primitive tribal agriculture. The system capitalizes on the complementary relationship between trees and crops for efficient resource utilization.
Globally, agroforestry is practiced for diversification across various biological, ecological, economic, and sociological factors. In North America, for example, farmers prefer agroforestry over traditional agriculture for better economic returns and natural resource conservation. Meanwhile, in the southern regions of India, home gardens exemplify the effective use of spatial arrangements to maintain crop diversity.
How Agroforestry Supports Crop Diversification
Agroforestry contributes to a multifunctional production system which enhances biodiversity by creating diverse habitats for macro- and micro-organisms and maintaining landforms for future generations. It provides opportunities to integrate traditionally grown crops with other commercial crops like cereals, oilseeds, pulses, vegetables, and fruits in various cultivation methods. This method can generate food, feed, fruits, fibre, fuel, fodder, fish, flavour, fragrance, floss, gum and resins, as well as other non-wood products for food and nutritional security.
The Way Forward
Despite the prevailing challenges, crop diversification offers an opportunity to double farmers’ income and ensure national food security. Therefore, it is crucial for the government to promote crop diversification by purchasing crops other than wheat and rice at the Minimum Support Price. Implementing these changes could also conserve underground water supplies. Limiting agricultural emissions through smarter livestock handling, technology-enabled monitoring of fertilizer application, simple changes in field layout, and other efficient agricultural techniques can also contribute to sustainable farming.
