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Holistic benefits of organic farming

A new scientific report on the benefits of organic farming released by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has much to cheer for farmers and entrepreneurs engaged in the production, processing and marketing of organic farm produce in India's northeast region. The potential of the region has remained untapped as the implementation of various flagship schemes and programmes promoting organic and natural farming have failed to gain the desired momentum. The CSE report titled "Evidence (2004-20) on holistic benefits of organic and natural farming in India" states long-term trends of crop yield revealed that the organic approach is better than inorganic and is at par with integrated. Besides scientific studies found that crop yields can be higher with organic and natural farming approaches in comparison to other approaches with chemicals, it adds. The report presents CSE's findings on the benefits of organic and natural farming on crop yield, income and livelihood, soil health and environment, and food quality by analysing the results of the government's long-term research project from 2004 and other scientific studies over the last decade. The two sources from which results were collected, collated and analysed for compiling the report are- All India Network Project on Organic Farming (AI-NPOF), a pan India research project of the Indian Council of Agriculture Research during 2014–19 and scientific studies conducted across the country. A key finding is that of the 504 times that yield results were recorded, 41 per cent of the times yields were the highest with an organic approach, followed by 33 per cent with integrated and 26 per cent with the inorganic approach. In the case of vegetables, oilseeds and cereals, yield with organic approach was the highest more times than integrated and inorganic approach. In pulses and spices, however, the yield was the highest more times with an integrated approach than with an organic and inorganic approach. "When five-year mean yields are compared, in 27 out of 31 crops (87per cent) yields were higher with organic approach than with inorganic approach as part of one or more cropping systems. Out of this, in 14 crops (52 per cent), the mean yield was significantly higher (>20 per cent)" state the reports and adds that these crops are tomato, potato, French bean, ladyfinger, linseed, black gram, pigeon pea, chickpea, ginger, coriander, black pepper, basmati rice, rice and maize.These 14 crops were grown at 12 centres including Umiam in Meghalaya and Gangtok in Sikkim. These studies also highlighted the importance of bio-inputs and organic inputs like farmyard manure, vermicompost, poultry manure, foliar spray of banana pseudostem, green manure and liquid bio-fertilizer. The study found that the cost of cultivation is higher with the organic approach than the integrated approach which is explained by the fact that organic, and bio-inputs used in the experimental farms under the AI-NPOF are largely purchased from the market and not produced on-farm, but organic inputs cost less if produced on-farm by farmers. However, net returns are much better with the organic approach than with integrated or inorganic approaches and despite the high cost of cultivation with the organic approach, net returns are more favourable than the integrated approach. Another key finding highlighted is that the food quality and nutrition with the organic approach are found to be better than inorganic, and also slightly better than the integrated approach. The Northeast region is a hub of organic cultivation by default these studies will bolster initiatives of promoting organic farming. The chemicals-driven green revolution in the country bypassing the northeast region is a blessing in disguise as these scientific studies will help demonstrate the traditional knowledge base of farmers in organic cultivation to draw global attention towards the region as India's natural organic food basket. Only 2.7 per cent of the net sown area of the country has been covered under various schemes and programmes for the promotion of organic and natural farming. The report also lists a set of recommendations for policy planning and implementation. These include improving the organic certification process to make it farmer-friendly and low-cost states playing an instrumental role in helping farmers sell their organic and natural products by developing organic value chains, procuring organic produce and helping farmers get remunerative prices, mainstreaming organic and natural farming in agriculture education and research systems and prioritizing adequate production and availability of quality organic fertilizers bio-fertilizers at low cost. It also harps on the importance of enabling the farmers to choose between chemical and organic fertilizers through the transfer of the huge ongoing subsidies allocated for chemical fertilizers to chemical-free farming. The report presents strong scientific evidence for the States in the region to prioritize organic and natural farming to capitalize on various Central government-funded schemes and policies to unlock the huge potential of the region. For the growers and entrepreneurs in agriculture and horticulture in the northeast region, the CSE's report will reinforce confidence in the traditional knowledge base of communities in organic farming.

COVID-19 Impact Analysis

In March 2020, the WHO declared coronavirus as a pandemic. To date, the pandemic has resulted in 3.5 million people falling sick and 247,744 deaths across the globe. One of the key recommendations to contain the disease is to wash hands frequently with soap and water. According to the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), every person needs to clean his/ her hands at least 10 times a day, instead of the usual average of five times a day, in this situation. This has led to an increased in water consumption. Fresh water is required to cater to the demand and supply of water. Thus, rise in demand for fresh water is anticipated to propel the demand for stormwater management, as stormwater management helps improve the quality of water by reducing and channeling rainwater runoff or melted snow from lawns or streets. Buy Now :https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/checkout.php?rep_id=82962&ltype=S Read more: https://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/stormwater-management-market-poised-to-expand-at-a-robust-pace-over-2021-2031#ixzz7JtAeIIvE

Holistic benefits of organic farming

A new scientific report on the benefits of organic farming released by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has much to cheer for farmers and entrepreneurs engaged in the production A new scientific report on the benefits of organic farming released by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has much to cheer for farmers and entrepreneurs engaged in the production, processing and marketing of organic farm produce in India's northeast region. The potential of the region has remained untapped as the implementation of various flagship schemes and programmes promoting organic and natural farming have failed to gain the desired momentum. The CSE report titled "Evidence (2004-20) on holistic benefits of organic and natural farming in India" states long-term trends of crop yield revealed that the organic approach is better than inorganic and is at par with integrated. Besides scientific studies found that crop yields can be higher with organic and natural farming approaches in comparison to other approaches with chemicals, it adds. The report presents CSE's findings on the benefits of organic and natural farming on crop yield, income and livelihood, soil health and environment, and food quality by analysing the results of the government's long-term research project from 2004 and other scientific studies over the last decade. The two sources from which results were collected, collated and analysed for compiling the report are- All India Network Project on Organic Farming (AI-NPOF), a pan India research project of the Indian Council of Agriculture Research during 2014–19 and scientific studies conducted across the country. A key finding is that of the 504 times that yield results were recorded, 41 per cent of the times yields were the highest with an organic approach, followed by 33 per cent with integrated and 26 per cent with the inorganic approach. In the case of vegetables, oilseeds and cereals, yield with organic approach was the highest more times than integrated and inorganic approach. In pulses and spices, however, the yield was the highest more times with an integrated approach than with an organic and inorganic approach. "When five-year mean yields are compared, in 27 out of 31 crops (87per cent) yields were higher with organic approach than with inorganic approach as part of one or more cropping systems. Out of this, in 14 crops (52 per cent), the mean yield was significantly higher (>20 per cent)" state the reports and adds that these crops are tomato, potato, French bean, ladyfinger, linseed, black gram, pigeon pea, chickpea, ginger, coriander, black pepper, basmati rice, rice and maize.These 14 crops were grown at 12 centres including Umiam in Meghalaya and Gangtok in Sikkim. These studies also highlighted the importance of bio-inputs and organic inputs like farmyard manure, vermicompost, poultry manure, foliar spray of banana pseudostem, green manure and liquid bio-fertilizer. The study found that the cost of cultivation is higher with the organic approach than the integrated approach which is explained by the fact that organic, and bio-inputs used in the experimental farms under the AI-NPOF are largely purchased from the market and not produced on-farm, but organic inputs cost less if produced on-farm by farmers. However, net returns are much better with the organic approach than with integrated or inorganic approaches and despite the high cost of cultivation with the organic approach, net returns are more favourable than the integrated approach. Another key finding highlighted is that the food quality and nutrition with the organic approach are found to be better than inorganic, and also slightly better than the integrated approach. The Northeast region is a hub of organic cultivation by default these studies will bolster initiatives of promoting organic farming. The chemicals-driven green revolution in the country bypassing the northeast region is a blessing in disguise as these scientific studies will help demonstrate the traditional knowledge base of farmers in organic cultivation to draw global attention towards the region as India's natural organic food basket. Only 2.7 per cent of the net sown area of the country has been covered under various schemes and programmes for the promotion of organic and natural farming. The report also lists a set of recommendations for policy planning and implementation. These include improving the organic certification process to make it farmer-friendly and low-cost states playing an instrumental role in helping farmers sell their organic and natural products by developing organic value chains, procuring organic produce and helping farmers get remunerative prices, mainstreaming organic and natural farming in agriculture education and research systems and prioritizing adequate production and availability of quality organic fertilizers bio-fertilizers at low cost. It also harps on the importance of enabling the farmers to choose between chemical and organic fertilizers through the transfer of the huge ongoing subsidies allocated for chemical fertilizers to chemical-free farming. The report presents strong scientific evidence for the States in the region to prioritize organic and natural farming to capitalize on various Central government-funded schemes and policies to unlock the huge potential of the region. For the growers and entrepreneurs in agriculture and horticulture in the northeast region, the CSE's report will reinforce confidence in the traditional knowledge base of communities in organic farming.

What Centre’s push to power plant biomass co-firing means to farmers, air quality

Blending eco-friendly biomass pellets with coal in electricity generation will reduce CO2 emissions and reduce fly ash – a highly toxic blend of harmful chemicals Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget speech declaring a scheme to push for use of biomass in coal-fired thermal power plants is just one step towards addressing the ever-evolving challenge of environmental hazards posed by coal-based power generation plants. Termed SAMARTH (Sustainable Agrarian Mission on use of Agro Residue in Thermal Power Plants), the scheme entails blending 5 per cent biomass pellets with coal while gradually increasing the blend to 7 per cent within two years. Also called thermal power plants, the coal-based units are known to be world’s most resource-intensive and polluting industries. Nevertheless, they remain the mainstay of India’s energy sources with roughly 75% of electricity coming from thermal power plants. The FM said in her speech that about 5-7% biomass pellets will be used in thermal power plants, which will cut carbon dioxide emissions by 38 million tonnes annually. “This will also provide extra income to farmers, give job opportunities to locals and help avoid stubble burning in agricultural fields,” the minister added. Advertisement What is biomass co-firing? Blending agriculture residue or urban waste (in the form of pellets) with coal in older power stations is called biomass co-firing. It is a practice followed by several old power plants across the globe and also in India of late. Till December 2021, about 59,000 metric tonnes of biomass has been co-fired in thermal power plants in India, while tenders for 12 million metric tonnes are in the pipeline. Need for biomass in power plants Emissions from thermal power plants don’t just give out CO2, but also release heavy amounts of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, mercury among other pollutants in the form of coal ash also called fly ash. Areas around power plants report piling ash in the form of slurry in ash ponds and in the dry form in open fields. Several studies have confirmed contamination of drinking water in areas around Koradi and Khaparkheda power plants in Nagpur (Maharashtra). Delhi has for long paid the price for fly ash disposed of unscientifically by power plants located in close vicinity to the national capital. Scientists say that long-term exposure to fly ash in the air can lead to serious pulmonary illnesses and even cancer. Despite several legislations and litigations in the past, the utilisation of fly ash has not gained momentum mainly because power plants have been lax in disposing off such toxic waste in an environment-friendly way. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to ensure all thermal power plants in India make 100% ash utilisation. Yet, 21 years after the first notification was issued, almost 50% power plants are yet to comply with the 100% ash utilisation order. Many plants do not even have a 50% annual ash utilisation rate. Meanwhile, despite strong commitments at the Paris Climate Change summit in 2015 and at COP-26 in Glasgow last year, India’s reliance on coal energy has only increased. As per ‘State of India’s Environment Report 2021’, about 64 per cent (132 GW) coal power capacity has been added in the last decade. Annual fly ash generation rose from 123 million tonnes to 217 million tonnes during the same period, the report adds. What is equally concerning is the amount of residual or legacy ash that has accumulated over the years due to low utilisation of existing ash. A recent report from Centre for Science and Environment found that the unused ash stock from coal power plants of India in the last 10 years is 627 million tonnes. This is three times the current annual ash generation of 200 million tonnes. It is unfortunate that despite a well-defined policy and regulatory framework for 100 per cent utilisation of fly ash, thermal power plants have failed to achieve the targets for one reason or the other. Hence, the blending of biomass (made from crop residue and organic waste) with coal will go a long way in minimising the harmful effects of coal-based energy. Centre’s efforts so far The National Mission on Use of Biomass in Thermal Power Plants has been promoting use of biomass in power plants by way of ad campaigns, awareness missions and extensive training programmes. Aggressive promotion in Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh is showing results. Power plants in the NCR region (around Delhi) have used 21,000 tonnes of biomass so far and have issued tenders for procuring 5.5 million tonnes more. State-owned power generator NTPC has alone co-fired 58,000 tonnes of biomass, while issuing tenders for 10.7 million tonnes recently. Benefit to farmers Stubble burning by farmers of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and the consequent air pollution in the entire north India hits the headlines every winter. A resident of Daryaganj in Delhi may whine about the “bad agriculture practices” of farmers which causes health hazards to his family, but farmers over the years have been constrained by labour shortage and excess production (rice and wheat) aided by mechanisation, which has only added to stubble load. They are left with no viable option but to burn the agriculture waste, which increases air pollution. Also read: Better use of waste biomass critical to meet 20% ethanol blending target This farm residue can be converted into biomass pellets, which can then be supplied to power plants for biomass co-firing, which reduces CO2 emissions significantly while offering an alternative to stubble burning and mitigating harmful effects of coal burning like fly ash generation. Soundaram Ramanatham of Centre for Science and Environment quotes power ministry data to say that about 0.25 million tonnes of biomass pellets are needed to produce one gigawatt capacity at the rate of seven per cent co-firing. Thus, for 100 GW capacity, nearly 25-30 million tonnes of biomass pellets will be required. This is a huge opportunity for farmers to increase their income while cutting down on air pollution. Biomass use – an answer to coal shortage An unprecedented coal shortage in September-October last year resulted in power cuts across the country and intense competition among state power utilities to secure enough energy from the grid to keep its industry and cities working. Blending biomass pellets (5-7 per cent) with coal can cut the need for coal and aid India’s gradual transition towards clean and renewable energy sources like solar and wind. There are ample examples of successful biomass co-firing reducing carbon footprint of coal power plants in Europe and the US. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has documented evidence to prove that biomass pellets made from agricultural residue have calorific value equal to that of coal. So, increasing use of biomass in coal-based power plants will not only help the country reduce its carbon emissions, but also meet its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) for net zero emissions target in 2070. Thus, increasing use of biomass in electricity generation is a win-win for farmers, coal-based power plants and citizens who have the right to clean and ambient air.

CSE Bats For Organic And Natural Farming, Releases Irrefutable Evidence Of Non-chemical Agriculture Benefits

“Despite the push given to it through periodic pronouncements from India’s leaders, the country’s efforts to upscale non-chemical farming practices have largely remained half-hearted at best. Centre for Science and Environment’s (CSE) new report on the subject presents robust evidence which makes it clear that we can upscale organic and natural farming. It is time to invest adequately in a well-funded nation-wide programme for this”: said Sunita Narain, director general, CSE here today. She was releasing CSE’s report -- Evidence (2004-20) on holistic benefits of organic and natural farming in India – at an online event here today. The report had a ‘community’ release -- representatives of the community which has been practicing or promoting organic and natural farming across the country joined in to release it along with Narain. The coming of the report immediately after the Budget is especially opportune. The Finance Minister has made a pitch for promoting chemical-free natural farming, and has encouraged states to revise the syllabi in their agricultural universities keeping in line with this new push. “But,” says Amit Khurana, programme director, Sustainable Food Systems programme, CSE and co-author of the CSE report, "these are relatively small steps compared to the need of the hour, and especially after the prime minister's appeal in December to make natural farming a mass movement.” Khurana adds: “Hopefully, our new report, which highlights that there is strong long-term evidence that organic and natural farming is not only profitable and sustainable but also productive, will propel the country to invest more adequately to upscale and encourage such a mass movement." What the report presents The report presents evidence collected and collated on aspects such as crop yield; cost of cultivation, income and livelihood, soil health and environment, and food quality and nutrients. It is based on two sets of sources: Results of the All-India Network Project on Organic Farming (AI-NPOF), 2004-19 -- The project is currently being implemented across 20 centres in 16 states. The report compares results of three approaches -- organic, integrated (which partly involves chemicals) and inorganic (dependent on chemicals). About 90 scientific studies on organic and natural farming published during 2010-20 in India – these collectively add to and complement the overall evidence. The report makes a clear case to consider the holistic benefits of organic and natural farming, such as those related to livelihoods, soil health and environment (instead of only yield) in future policies and programmes. Specifically, through the AI-NPOF results, it presents long-term evidence on how benefits of organic approach outweigh that of inorganic approach (and also integrated approach to a large extent), with respect to profitability parameters such as net returns and soil health parameters like organic carbon, macronutrients, micronutrients, bulk density and rhizosphere microbial population. The evidence collected by the report bring out some interesting details: Evidence on crop yield: Out of the 504 times that yield results were recorded during 2014-19, the yields were found to be highest 41 per cent of the times with organic approach, followed by 33 per cent with integrated, and 26 per cent with inorganic approach. Evidence on income and livelihoods: Out of 61 cropping systems, net returns have been seen to be the highest in 64 per cent with organic approach at 12 centres, 11 per cent with integrated approach at four centres, and 25 per cent with inorganic approach at five centres. The five-year mean net returns with organic approach are higher than inorganic in 67 per cent cropping systems. Evidence on soil health: Cropping systems with organic approach have scored the highest in terms of all the parametres on soil health – organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The report’s findings on soil bulk density, soil bacteria, fungi, micronutrients etc also offer a similar verdict. “It is surprising how the results of the government’s own All India Network Project on organic farming, which has been present in the public domain for the last several years, did not get the required attention. It is also a concern how the entire issue so far has focused on yields and not on livelihoods and soil health benefits,” says Khurana. “It is evident that organic approach has fared better than integrated on profitability and sustainability and is almost at par with it in the case of productivity,” points out Abhay Kumar Singh, programme manager, Sustainable Food Systems Programme in CSE and a co-author of the report. Adds his co-author and the Programme’s deputy manager, Abdul Halim: “There is proof that natural farming involves low costs and helps in introducing resilient crops, energy and water efficiency, plant and animal biodiversity, carbon sequestration and climate mitigation.” The report recommends actions needed to upscale organic and natural farming – building a well-funded ambitious programme; training and supporting farmers during transition; making available quality organic fertilisers and biofertilisers; enabling agriculture extension systems; farmer-friendly certification; enabling market access; and action at the state level. Concluding the discussions at the release of the report, Narain said: “We now know that there are enough reasons to upscale organic and natural farming. We hope that the larger scientific community and policymakers recognise the strong case that we now have to transform the non-chemical farming initiatives in our country into a mass movement.”

Invest in organic and natural farming

CSE calls for making organic and natural farming a mass movement Centre for Science and Environment’s (CSE) new report ‘Evidence (2004-20) on holistic benefits of organic and natural farming in India: Evidence (2004-20)’ presents irrefutable evidence of the benefits of non-chemical agriculture. The country successfully adopted the Green Revolution in the 1960s—an input and chemical-intensive agriculture model—to overcome food scarcity by use of high yield varieties, pesticides, fertilizers, and agriculture machinery and irrigation systems. However, over the years, this resulted in several negative impacts related to ecological, economic and existential aspects of agriculture. This includes declining soil fertility and food diversity, an increase in farmers’ debt, dependence on agrochemicals, and pest resistance. In addition, chemical-intensive agriculture adversely affects the health of humans and animals. “Despite the push given to it through periodic pronouncements from India’s leaders, the country’s efforts to upscale non-chemical farming practices have largely remained half-hearted at best. on the subject presents robust evidence which makes it clear that we can upscale organic and natural farming. It is time to invest adequately in a well-funded nationwide programme for this,” said Sunita Narain, director general, CSE releasing the report at an online event on February 2, 2022. The ‘community’ release of the report wherein representatives of the communities that have been practising or promoting organic and natural farming across the country joined in during the event. “The coming of the report immediately after the budget is especially opportune. The Finance Minister has made a pitch for promoting chemical-free natural farming, and has encouraged states to revise the syllabi in their agricultural universities keeping in line with this new push,” said Amit Khurana, programme director, Sustainable Food Systems programme, CSE and co-author of the CSE report. The negative impacts of chemical agriculture have been deliberated upon extensively in the last few decades and even more so in the last few years. As a result, the agro-ecological movement has started gaining momentum. This includes efforts by champion farmers and civil societies. While the government passed its first policy on organic farming in 2005, subsequent action was minimal. In 2015–16, it came up with a flagship programme, called Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY), which apart from being limited in scale, continues to face implementation challenges. All this while, barring a few exceptions, action at the state level has been suboptimal. This explains why only 2.7 per cent (3.8 million ha) of net sown area (140.1 million ha) in India is covered under organic and natural farming as part of different policies. This includes 0.41 million ha of natural farming. In a recent shift, the government has started talking publicly in favour of organic and natural farming. The Prime Minister, highlighting the ill-effects of chemical-based farming, recently appealed to make natural farming a mass movement in the country. “But, the budget mention is a relatively small step compared to the need of the hour, and especially after the prime minister's appeal in December to make natural farming a mass movement. Though the budget promises to promote chemical-free natural farming, it is a half-hearted promise at best, as no separate allocation has been made in it,” adds Khurana. Over the last two decades, the government’s action to upscale agro-ecological practices has been half-hearted and severely limited. One main reason is the lack of conviction among policy makers, which has prevented them from taking ambitious action to mainstream organic and natural farming. This has largely been due to the limited consensus among the scientific community in favour of organic and natural farming and the singular view of yield to assess these non-chemical agricultural practices. This has been attributed to limited evidence, which was building up over the last two decades but failed to catch the attention of policymakers. “Hopefully, the new report, which highlights that there is strong long-term evidence that organic and natural farming is not only profitable and sustainable but also productive, will propel the country to invest more adequately to upscale and encourage such a mass movement," adds Khurana. “It is surprising how the results of the government’s own All India Network Project on organic farming, which has been present in the public domain for the last several years, did not get the required attention. It is also a concern how the entire issue so far has focused on yields and not on livelihoods and soil health benefits,” said Khurana. “It is evident that organic approach has fared better than integrated on profitability and sustainability and is almost at par with it in the case of productivity,” points out Abhay Kumar Singh, programme manager, Sustainable Food Systems Programme in CSE and a co-author of the report. The report recommends actions needed to upscale organic and natural farming – building a well-funded ambitious programme; training and supporting farmers during transition; making available quality organic fertilisers and biofertilisers; enabling agriculture extension systems; farmer-friendly certification; enabling market access; and action at the state level. “There is proof that natural farming involves low costs and helps in introducing resilient crops, energy and water efficiency, plant and animal biodiversity, carbon sequestration and climate mitigation,” adds Abdul Halim, a co-author of the report and the Programme’s deputy manager.

Guwahati Facing A 'Poor' Air Quality Index, Says Central Pollution Control Board

GUWAHATI: The Air Quality Index (AQI) of Guwahati has been deteriorating for the past few days. As per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, the AQI of Guwahati on February 1, is 291 based on (particulate matter) PM2.5. <p>On Tuesday, Guwahati’s deteriorating air quality was labelled 'poor' by the CPCB. The weather apps on people's mobiles have labelled the city's AQI as 'unhealthy', advising people to stay indoors. However, there were some improvements in the air quality of the city on Wednesday, February 2, following the showers on Tuesday night. &nbsp;</p> <p>It needs to be mentioned that Guwahati has topped the list of the most polluted cities in the region in a study conducted by the Delhi-based not-for-profit public interest research and advocacy organisation, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).</p> <p>Guwahati’s annual average of PM2.5 level had constantly been much higher for the past three years compared to the national average. While the annual average level of India has been 40 microgrammes per cubic metre (ug/m3) for the past 3 years, the annual standard of PM2.5 level of Guwahati was 56 ug/m3 in 2019, 62 ug/m3 in 2020, and 60 ug/m3 in 2021.</p> <p>Notably, the weekly PM2.5 levels increase in the winter months.</p> <p>Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) are tiny particles in the air that reduce visibility and causes the air to appear hazy when levels are elevated. PM2.5 is an air pollutant that is of concern for people's health when the levels in the air are high.&nbsp;</p> <p>A senior scientist of the Pollution Control Board of Assam told G Plus, "Earlier we measured only PM10, which is coarse particles. When such particles are inhaled, it remains in the lungs. But the finer PM2.5 particles get distributed in the bloodstream, which is even more unhealthy."</p>

CSE release new report presenting irrefutable evidence of the benefits of non-chemical agriculture

BATHINDA: The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has stated that despite the push given to it, the country’s efforts to upscale non-chemical farming practices have largely remained half-hearted. Batting for natural farming, CSE released its new report; Evidence (2004-20) on holistic benefits of organic and natural farming in India, at an online event on Wednesday. There is robust evidence which makes it clear that we can upscale organic and natural farming. It is time to invest adequately in a well funded nation-wide programme for this”, said Sunita Narain, director general, CSE while releasing report with community members, who have been practicing or promoting organic and natural farming across the country. The finance minister has made a pitch for promoting chemical free natural farming and has encouraged states to revise the syllabi in their agricultural universities keeping in line with this new push. Says Amit Khurana, programme director, Sustainable Food Systems programme, CSE and co-author of the CSE report, "these are relatively small steps compared to the need of the hour, and especially after the prime minister's appeal in December to make natural farming a mass movement.” Khurana adds: “Hopefully, our new report, which highlights that there is strong long-term evidence that organic and natural farming is not only profitable and sustainable but also productive, will propel the country to invest more adequately to upscale and encourage such a mass movement." The report presents evidence collected and collated on aspects such as crop yield; cost of cultivation, income and livelihood, soil health and environment, and food quality and nutrients. It is based on two sets of sources; results of the All-India Network Project on Organic Farming (AI-NPOF), 2004-19 -- The project is currently being implemented across 20 centres in 16 states. The report compares results of three approaches -- organic, integrated (which partly involves chemicals) and inorganic (dependent on chemicals). About 90 scientific studies on organic and natural farming published during 2010-20 in India – these collectively add to and complement the overall evidence. The report makes a clear case to consider the holistic benefits of organic and natural farming, such as those related to livelihoods, soil health and environment (instead of only yield) in future policies and programmes. Specifically, through the AI-NPOF results, it presents long-term evidence on how benefits of organic approach outweigh that of inorganic approach (and also integrated approach to a large extent), with respect to profitability parameters such as net returns and soil health parameters like organic carbon, macronutrients, micronutrients, bulk density and rhizosphere microbial population. The evidence collected by the report bring out some interesting details: Evidence on crop yield: Out of the 504 times that yield results were recorded during 2014-19, the yields were found to be highest 41 per cent of the times with organic approach, followed by 33 per cent with integrated, and 26 per cent with inorganic approach. Evidence on income and livelihoods: Out of 61 cropping systems, net returns have been seen to be the highest in 64 per cent with organic approach at 12 centres, 11 per cent with integrated approach at four centres, and 25 per cent with inorganic approach at five centres. The five-year mean net returns with organic approach are higher than inorganic in 67 per cent cropping systems. Evidence on soil health: Cropping systems with organic approach have scored the highest in terms of all the parameters on soil health – organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The report’s findings on soil bulk density, soil bacteria, fungi, micronutrients etc also offer a similar verdict. “It is surprising how the results of the government’s own All India Network Project on organic farming, which has been present in the public domain for the last several years, did not get the required attention. It is also a concern how the entire issue so far has focused on yields and not on livelihoods and soil health benefits,” says Khurana. “It is evident that organic approach has fared better than integrated on profitability and sustainability and is almost at par with it in the case of productivity,” points out Abhay Kumar Singh, programme manager, Sustainable Food Systems Programme in CSE and a co-author of the report. Adds his co-author and the Programme’s deputy manager, Abdul Halim: “There is proof that natural farming involves low costs and helps in introducing resilient crops, energy and water efficiency, plant and animal biodiversity, carbon sequestration and climate mitigation.” The report recommends actions needed to upscale organic and natural farming – building a well-funded ambitious programme; training and supporting farmers during transition; making available quality organic fertilisers and bio fertilisers; enabling agriculture extension systems; farmer-friendly certification; enabling market access; and action at the state level. Narain said: “We now know that there are enough reasons to upscale organic and natural farming. We hope that the larger scientific community and policymakers recognise the strong case that we now have to transform the non-chemical farming initiatives in our country into a mass movement.”

New CSE report highlights benefits of organic farming

Bathinda: The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has stated that despite the push given to it, the country’s efforts to upscale non-chemical farming practices have largely remained half-hearted. Batting for natural farming, CSE released its new report; “Evidence” (2004-20) on holistic benefits of organic and natural farming in India, at an online event on Wednesday. “There is robust evidence which makes it clear that we can upscale organic and natural farming. It is time to invest adequately in a well funded nation-wide programme for this”, said Sunita Narain, director general, CSE while releasing report with community members, who have been practicing or promoting organic and natural farming across the country. The finance minister has made a pitch for promoting chemical free natural farming and has encouraged states to revise the syllabi in their agricultural universities keeping in line with this new push. Amit Khurana, co-author of the CSE report, said, “These are relatively small steps compared to the need of the hour, and especially after the Prime Minister’s appeal in December to make natural farming a mass movement.” Khurana adds: “Hopefully, our new report, which highlights that there is strong long-term evidence that organic and natural farming is not only profitable and sustainable but also productive, will propel the country to invest more adequately to upscale and encourage such a mass movement.” The report presents evidence collected and collated on aspects such as crop yield; cost of cultivation, income and livelihood, soil health and environment, and food quality and nutrients.

Delhi govt inducts new batch of junior environmental engineers

New Delhi: The Delhi government has inducted a new batch of Environmental Engineers and Green Delhi Fellows who will assist the Environment Department and Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC). The 30 Junior Environmental Engineers and 22 Green Delhi Fellows will add strength to the government's environment enforcement and regulatory measures, the government said in a statement. The Green Fellows are part of the Fellowship Program started by the government for young professionals to contribute to Delhi's green initiatives while the Junior Environmental Engineers will act as a force multiplier for the DPCC. The initiative aims to motivate professionals to innovatively and creatively support Delhi's environmental governance, the state's environment Minister Gopal Rai said. "DPCC too has been further strengthened by hiring 30 Junior Environmental Engineers for the first time in almost 3 decades," he said. The fellows and engineers together will work under the close supervision of senior officials of the government on various issues from air pollution to preservation of forests and wetlands to Yamuna cleaning to solid waste management and other environmental issues. The Green Fellows will support the department in making strategies, in data analysis, field work, and empirical research. The new recruits will also strengthen the forest department and aid the government's forestry programs. "The exposure that the fellowship will provide to these young professionals is unparalleled. Along with the transformation of Delhi's environment which they will support over the next few years, this will also help them become environmental leaders for times to come," advisor to the Minister Reena Gupta said. The 52 new fellows were welcomed into the department through a three-day digital orientation by the Principal Secretary, of the Department of Environment and Forests, Sanjeev Khirwar, Member Secretary of DPCC, Dr KS Jayachandran, and Reena Gupta. The orientation program was designed to expose the young professionals to subject-specific topics on environmental governance, air pollution, solid waste management, Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) among others. Experts from the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), and Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) also addressed the professionals during the 3-day program.

दिल्ली सरकार ने 30 जूनियर पर्यावरण इंजीनियरों व 22 ग्रीन दिल्ली फेलो को नियुक्त किया

दिल्ली सरकार ने बुधवार को 30 जूनियर पर्यावरण इंजीनियरों और 22 ग्रीन दिल्ली फेलो को नियुक्त किया है। इंजीनियर और फेलो सरकार के पर्यावरण प्रवर्तन और नियामक उपायों से जुड़े प्रयासों को मजबूती देंगे। सरकार के लिए पहले से ही यह उच्च प्राथमिकता पर हैं। दिल्ली की हरित पहल में योगदान देने के लिए युवा ग्रीन फेलो दिल्ली सरकार द्वारा शुरू किए गए फैलोशिप कार्यक्रम का हिस्सा हैं। जबकि जूनियर पर्यावरण इंजीनियर दिल्ली प्रदूषण नियंत्रण समिति (डीपीसीसी) के लिए अतिरिक्त कर्मचारियों के रूप में कार्य करेंगे। पर्यावरण मंत्री गोपाल राय ने कहा कि हरित दिल्ली फैलोशिप कार्यक्रम अरविंद केजरीवाल सरकार द्वारा दिल्ली के पर्यावरण को बेहतर करने के लिए युवा पेशेवरों के लिए शुरू की गई एक अनूठी पहल है। युवाओं को भर्ती करके डीपीसीसी को और भी मजबूत किया गया है। पिछले करीब तीन दशकों में पहली बार 30 जूनियर पर्यावरण इंजीनियर भर्ती किए गए हैं। पर्यावरण मंत्री की सलाहकार रीना गुप्ता ने कहा कि पर्यावरण विभाग द्वारा की जा रही पहलों को ग्रीन दिल्ली फेलो बढ़ावा देंगे। फेलोशिप इन युवा पेशेवरों को एक्सपोजर भी प्रदान करेगी। दिल्ली के पर्यावरण में बदलाव लाने के लिए अगले कुछ वर्षों तक साथ-साथ कार्य करेंगे। इससे उन्हें आने वाले समय में पर्यावरणविद् बनने में भी मदद मिलेगी। दिल्ली सरकार के वरिष्ठ अधिकारियों की निगरानी में फेलो और इंजीनियर वायु प्रदूषण से लेकर यमुना की सफाई, ठोस अपशिष्ट प्रबंधन और अन्य पर्यावरणीय मुद्दों पर काम करेंगे। ग्रीन फेलो इन कार्यों के बीच डेटा विश्लेषण, फील्ड वर्क, शोध आदि में भी सहयोग करेंगे। नई भर्तियां वन विभाग को भी मजबूत करेंगी और सरकार के वानिकी कार्यक्रमों में मदद करेंगी। पर्यावरण और वन विभाग के प्रधान सचिव संजीव खिरवार, पर्यावरण मंत्री की सलाहकार रीना गुप्ता, डीपीसीसी के सदस्य सचिव डॉ केएस जयचंद्रन ने 3 दिवसीय ऑनलाइन ओरिएंटेशन कार्यक्रम के दौरान ग्रीन फेलो और जेईई को संबोधित किया। ओरिएंटेशन कार्यक्रम युवा प्रोफेशनल को पर्यावरण शासन, वायु प्रदूषण, ठोस अपशिष्ट प्रबंधन, ग्रेडेड रिस्पांस एक्शन प्लान सहित अन्य विषयों से अवगत कराने के लिए डिज़ाइन किया गया था। सेंटर फॉर पॉलिसी रिसर्च (सीपीआर), काउंसिल ऑन एनर्जी, एनवायरनमेंट एंड वॉटर (सीईईडब्ल्यू) और सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट (सीएसई) के विशेषज्ञों ने 3 दिवसीय कार्यक्रम के दौरान युवाओं को संबोधित किया।

CSE bats for organic and natural farming

“Despite the push given to it through periodic pronouncements from India’s leaders, the country’s efforts to upscale non-chemical farming practices have largely remained half-hearted at best. Centre for Science and Environment’s (CSE) new report on the subject presents robust evidence which makes it clear that we can upscale organic and natural farming. It is time to invest adequately in a well-funded nation-wide programme for this”: said Sunita Narain, director general, CSE here today. She was releasing CSE’s report -- Evidence (2004-20) on holistic benefits of organic and natural farming in India – at an online event here today. The report had a ‘community’ release -- representatives of the community which has been practicing or promoting organic and natural farming across the country joined in to release it along with Narain (see the full list below). The coming of the report immediately after the Budget is especially opportune. The Finance Minister has made a pitch for promoting chemical-free natural farming, and has encouraged states to revise the syllabi in their agricultural universities keeping in line with this new push. “But,” says Amit Khurana, programme director, Sustainable Food Systems programme, CSE and co-author of the CSE report, "these are relatively small steps compared to the need of the hour, and especially after the prime minister's appeal in December to make natural farming a mass movement.” Khurana adds: “Hopefully, our new report, which highlights that there is strong long-term evidence that organic and natural farming is not only profitable and sustainable but also productive, will propel the country to invest more adequately to upscale and encourage such a mass movement." What the report presents The report presents evidence collected and collated on aspects such as crop yield; cost of cultivation, income and livelihood, soil health and environment, and food quality and nutrients. It is based on two sets of sources: Results of the All-India Network Project on Organic Farming (AI-NPOF), 2004-19 -- The project is currently being implemented across 20 centres in 16 states. The report compares results of three approaches -- organic, integrated (which partly involves chemicals) and inorganic (dependent on chemicals). About 90 scientific studies on organic and natural farming published during 2010-20 in India – these collectively add to and complement the overall evidence. The report makes a clear case to consider the holistic benefits of organic and natural farming, such as those related to livelihoods, soil health and environment (instead of only yield) in future policies and programmes. Specifically, through the AI-NPOF results, it presents long-term evidence on how benefits of organic approach outweigh that of inorganic approach (and also integrated approach to a large extent), with respect to profitability parameters such as net returns and soil health parameters like organic carbon, macronutrients, micronutrients, bulk density and rhizosphere microbial population. The evidence collected by the report bring out some interesting details: Evidence on crop yield: Out of the 504 times that yield results were recorded during 2014-19, the yields were found to be highest 41 per cent of the times with organic approach, followed by 33 per cent with integrated, and 26 per cent with inorganic approach. Evidence on income and livelihoods: Out of 61 cropping systems, net returns have been seen to be the highest in 64 per cent with organic approach at 12 centres, 11 per cent with integrated approach at four centres, and 25 per cent with inorganic approach at five centres. The five-year mean net returns with organic approach are higher than inorganic in 67 per cent cropping systems. Evidence on soil health: Cropping systems with organic approach have scored the highest in terms of all the parametres on soil health – organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The report’s findings on soil bulk density, soil bacteria, fungi, micronutrients etc also offer a similar verdict. “It is surprising how the results of the government’s own All India Network Project on organic farming, which has been present in the public domain for the last several years, did not get the required attention. It is also a concern how the entire issue so far has focused on yields and not on livelihoods and soil health benefits,” says Khurana. “It is evident that organic approach has fared better than integrated on profitability and sustainability and is almost at par with it in the case of productivity,” points out Abhay Kumar Singh, programme manager, Sustainable Food Systems Programme in CSE and a co-author of the report. Adds his co-author and the Programme’s deputy manager, Abdul Halim: “There is proof that natural farming involves low costs and helps in introducing resilient crops, energy and water efficiency, plant and animal biodiversity, carbon sequestration and climate mitigation.” The report recommends actions needed to upscale organic and natural farming – building a well-funded ambitious programme; training and supporting farmers during transition; making available quality organic fertilisers and biofertilisers; enabling agriculture extension systems; farmer-friendly certification; enabling market access; and action at the state level. Concluding the discussions at the release of the report, Narain said: “We now know that there are enough reasons to upscale organic and natural farming. We hope that the larger scientific community and policymakers recognise the strong case that we now have to transform the non-chemical farming initiatives in our country into a mass movement.”

CSE bats for organic and natural farming

Despite the push given to it through periodic pronouncements from India’s leaders, the country’s efforts to upscale non-chemical farming practices have largely remained half-hearted at best. Centre for Science and Environment’s (CSE) new report on the subject presents robust evidence which makes it clear that we can upscale organic and natural farming. It is time to invest adequately in a well-funded nation-wide programme for this”: said Sunita Narain, director general, CSE . She was releasing CSE’s report — Evidence (2004-20) on holistic benefits of organic and natural farming in India – at an online event today. The report had a ‘community’ release — representatives of the community which has been practicing or promoting organic and natural farming across the country joined in to release it along with Narain. The coming of the report immediately after the Budget is especially opportune. The Finance Minister has made a pitch for promoting chemical-free natural farming, and has encouraged states to revise the syllabi in their agricultural universities keeping in line with this new push. “But,” says Amit Khurana, programme director, Sustainable Food Systems programme, CSE and co-author of the CSE report, “these are relatively small steps compared to the need of the hour, and especially after the prime minister’s appeal in December to make natural farming a mass movement.” Khurana adds: “Hopefully, our new report, which highlights that there is strong long-term evidence that organic and natural farming is not only profitable and sustainable but also productive, will propel the country to invest more adequately to upscale and encourage such a mass movement.” What the report presents The report presents evidence collected and collated on aspects such as crop yield; cost of cultivation, income and livelihood, soil health and environment, and food quality and nutrients. It is based on two sets of sources: Results of the All-India Network Project on Organic Farming (AI-NPOF), 2004-19 — The project is currently being implemented across 20 centres in 16 states. The report compares results of three approaches — organic, integrated (which partly involves chemicals) and inorganic (dependent on chemicals). About 90 scientific studies on organic and natural farming published during 2010-20 in India – these collectively add to and complement the overall evidence. The report makes a clear case to consider the holistic benefits of organic and natural farming, such as those related to livelihoods, soil health and environment (instead of only yield) in future policies and programmes. Specifically, through the AI-NPOF results, it presents long-term evidence on how benefits of organic approach outweigh that of inorganic approach (and also integrated approach to a large extent), with respect to profitability parameters such as net returns and soil health parameters like organic carbon, macronutrients, micronutrients, bulk density and rhizosphere microbial population. The evidence collected by the report bring out some interesting details: Evidence on crop yield: Out of the 504 times that yield results were recorded during 2014-19, the yields were found to be highest 41 per cent of the times with organic approach, followed by 33 per cent with integrated, and 26 per cent with inorganic approach. Evidence on income and livelihoods: Out of 61 cropping systems, net returns have been seen to be the highest in 64 per cent with organic approach at 12 centres, 11 per cent with integrated approach at four centres, and 25 per cent with inorganic approach at five centres. The five-year mean net returns with organic approach are higher than inorganic in 67 per cent cropping systems. Evidence on soil health: Cropping systemswith organic approach have scored the highest in terms of all the parametres on soil health – organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The report’s findings on soil bulk density, soil bacteria, fungi, micronutrients etc also offer a similar verdict. “It is surprising how the results of the government’s own All India Network Project on organic farming, which has been present in the public domain for the last several years, did not get the required attention. It is also a concern how the entire issue so far has focused on yields and not on livelihoods and soil health benefits,” says Khurana. “It is evident that organic approach has fared better than integrated on profitability and sustainability and is almost at par with it in the case of productivity,” points out Abhay Kumar Singh, programme manager, Sustainable Food Systems Programme in CSE and a co-author of the report. Adds his co-author and the Programme’s deputy manager, Abdul Halim: “There is proof that natural farming involves low costs and helps in introducing resilient crops, energy and water efficiency, plant and animal biodiversity, carbon sequestration and climate mitigation.” The report recommends actions needed to upscale organic and natural farming – building a well-funded ambitious programme; training and supporting farmers during transition; making available quality organic fertilisers and biofertilisers; enabling agriculture extension systems; farmer-friendly certification; enabling market access; and action at the state level. Concluding the discussions at the release of the report, Narain said: “We now know that there are enough reasons to upscale organic and natural farming. We hope that the larger scientific community and policymakers recognise the strong case that we now have to transform the non-chemical farming initiatives in our country into a mass movement.” (Report sent by Pratyusha Mukherjee)

Invest in organic and natural farming, says CSE report

Centre for Science and Environment’s (CSE) new report ‘Evidence (2004-20) on holistic benefits of organic and natural farming in India: Evidence (2004-20)’ presents irrefutable evidence of the benefits of non-chemical agriculture. The country successfully adopted the Green Revolution in the 1960s—an input and chemical-intensive agriculture model—to overcome food scarcity by use of high yield varieties, pesticides, fertilizers, and agriculture machinery and irrigation systems. However, over the years, this resulted in several negative impacts related to ecological, economic and existential aspects of agriculture. This includes declining soil fertility and food diversity, an increase in farmers’ debt, dependence on agrochemicals, and pest resistance. In addition, chemical-intensive agriculture adversely affects the health of humans and animals. “Despite the push given to it through periodic pronouncements from India’s leaders, the country’s efforts to upscale non-chemical farming practices have largely remained half-hearted at best. on the subject presents robust evidence which makes it clear that we can upscale organic and natural farming. It is time to invest adequately in a well-funded nationwide programme for this,” said Sunita Narain, director general, CSE releasing the report at an online event on February 2, 2022. The ‘community’ release of the report wherein representatives of the communities that have been practising or promoting organic and natural farming across the country joined in during the event. “The coming of the report immediately after the budget is especially opportune. The Finance Minister has made a pitch for promoting chemical-free natural farming, and has encouraged states to revise the syllabi in their agricultural universities keeping in line with this new push,” said Amit Khurana, programme director, Sustainable Food Systems programme, CSE and co-author of the CSE report. The negative impacts of chemical agriculture have been deliberated upon extensively in the last few decades and even more so in the last few years. As a result, the agro-ecological movement has started gaining momentum. This includes efforts by champion farmers and civil societies. While the government passed its first policy on organic farming in 2005, subsequent action was minimal. In 2015–16, it came up with a flagship programme, called Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY), which apart from being limited in scale, continues to face implementation challenges. All this while, barring a few exceptions, action at the state level has been suboptimal. This explains why only 2.7 per cent (3.8 million ha) of net sown area (140.1 million ha) in India is covered under organic and natural farming as part of different policies. This includes 0.41 million ha of natural farming. In a recent shift, the government has started talking publicly in favour of organic and natural farming. The Prime Minister, highlighting the ill-effects of chemical-based farming, recently appealed to make natural farming a mass movement in the country. “But, the budget mention is a relatively small step compared to the need of the hour, and especially after the prime minister's appeal in December to make natural farming a mass movement. Though the budget promises to promote chemical-free natural farming, it is a half-hearted promise at best, as no separate allocation has been made in it,” adds Khurana. Over the last two decades, the government’s action to upscale agro-ecological practices has been half-hearted and severely limited. One main reason is the lack of conviction among policy makers, which has prevented them from taking ambitious action to mainstream organic and natural farming. This has largely been due to the limited consensus among the scientific community in favour of organic and natural farming and the singular view of yield to assess these non-chemical agricultural practices. This has been attributed to limited evidence, which was building up over the last two decades but failed to catch the attention of policymakers. “Hopefully, the new report, which highlights that there is strong long-term evidence that organic and natural farming is not only profitable and sustainable but also productive, will propel the country to invest more adequately to upscale and encourage such a mass movement," adds Khurana. “It is surprising how the results of the government’s own All India Network Project on organic farming, which has been present in the public domain for the last several years, did not get the required attention. It is also a concern how the entire issue so far has focused on yields and not on livelihoods and soil health benefits,” said Khurana. “It is evident that organic approach has fared better than integrated on profitability and sustainability and is almost at par with it in the case of productivity,” points out Abhay Kumar Singh, programme manager, Sustainable Food Systems Programme in CSE and a co-author of the report. The report recommends actions needed to upscale organic and natural farming – building a well-funded ambitious programme; training and supporting farmers during transition; making available quality organic fertilisers and biofertilisers; enabling agriculture extension systems; farmer-friendly certification; enabling market access; and action at the state level. “There is proof that natural farming involves low costs and helps in introducing resilient crops, energy and water efficiency, plant and animal biodiversity, carbon sequestration and climate mitigation,” adds Abdul Halim, a co-author of the report and the Programme’s deputy manager. The report makes a case for holistic benefits of organic and natural farming This report consolidates and presents the evidence on holistic benefits of organic and natural farming such as on yield, livelihood, soil health and environment. This is done by analysing the results of the government’s own long-term research project from 2004 and other scientific studies over the last decade. The report presents evidence collected and collated on aspects such as crop yield; cost of cultivation, income and livelihood, soil health and environment, and food quality and nutrients. It is based on two sets of sources: Results of the All-India Network Project on Organic Farming (AI-NPOF), 2004-19 -- The project is currently being implemented across 20 centres in 16 states. The report compares result of three approaches -- organic, integrated (which partly involves chemicals) and inorganic (dependent on chemicals). About 90 scientific studies on organic and natural farming published during 2010-20 in India – these collectively add to and complement the overall evidence. Specifically, through the AI-NPOF results, it presents long-term evidence on how the benefits of organic approach outweigh that of inorganic approach (and also integrated approach to a large extent), with respect to profitability parameters such as net returns and soil health parameters like organic carbon, macronutrients, micronutrients, bulk density and rhizosphere microbial population. The evidence collected by the report bring out some interesting details: Evidence on crop yield: Out of the 504 times that yield results were recorded during 2014-19, the yields were found to be highest 41 per cent of the times with organic approach, followed by 33 per cent with integrated, and 26 per cent with inorganic approach. Evidence on income and livelihoods: Out of 61 cropping systems, net returns have been seen to be the highest in 64 per cent with organic approach at 12 centres, 11 per cent with integrated approach at four centres, and 25 per cent with inorganic approach at five centres. The five-year mean net returns with organic approach are higher than inorganic in 67 per cent cropping systems. Evidence on soil health: Cropping systems with organic approach have scored the highest in terms of all the parameters on soil health – organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The report’s findings on soil bulk density, soil bacteria, fungi, micronutrients etc. also offer a similar verdict. The study recommends the need to develop a roadmap that sets the long-term agenda for adoption of agro-ecological approaches across different parts of the country in view of its benefits on multiple and crosscutting aspects such as nutrition, livelihood of farmers, natural resource conservation, biodiversity, resource efficiency, soil health, disease resilience and mitigation of climate crisis. This roadmap should also consider mechanisms for incentivizing farmers to adopt agro-ecological practices such as payments for ecosystem services. It also suggests that organic certification process should be improved to make it farmer-friendly and low cost. Measures should be taken to address concerns about the PGS-India certification system and its implementation to make it more farmer-friendly. An alternative certification that is simpler for farmers and trustworthy for consumers could be explored for well-connected local markets. The problem could also be addressed by introducing traceability mechanisms. Implementing measures to increase the credibility and popularity of PGS certification among consumers is the need of the hour. Consumer trust will generate more demand. “We now know that there are enough reasons to upscale organic and natural farming. We hope that the larger scientific community and policymakers recognise the strong case that we now have to transform the non-chemical farming initiatives in our country into a mass movement,” said Narain concluding the discussions at the release of the report.

Homeless people die in large numbers as northern India suffers coldest January in a decade

Last week, when Delhi recorded the coldest day in almost a decade, a homeless man on the streets of the national capital slept through the night holding a dead body close to him until volunteers from a nonprofit arrived to help. Rajkumar, a daily wage labourer, has lived in Delhi for the last five years but is yet to get a roof over his head. He is one of the city’s official tally of 46,724 homeless people – a number activists say could be barely a third of the real figure for rough sleepers in the capital. Rajkumar sleeps near Delhi’s Kashmiri gate, a bustling area where interstate buses arrive every hour. The person next to him had lost his life during the night when temperatures dropped to a low of 6C. Daily maximum temperatures have dropped as low as 12 degrees below the average for a Delhi winter day, making it the coldest January in nine years. Volunteers from the nonprofit that helped Rajkumar had found him along with another man who needed medical attention after surviving a rainy night sleeping out a footpath. The third man, who Rajkumar had been holding onto for warmth, was not so lucky. According to an unreleased report from the Centre for Holistic Development (CHD), the nonprofit that comprises of “silent volunteers” including lawyers and policy researchers that helped Rajkumar, at least 176 homeless people died in January in Delhi because of exposure to extreme cold. A lack of official record-keeping of homeless deaths makes it difficult to find a comparison for last year, but according to the India Environment Portal (IEP) 152 deaths were recorded across India as a whole due to cold waves in 2020. CHD’s researchers analysed data from India’s homeless shelters and local records of deaths on footpaths, along with its own surveys, to determine the number of deaths recorded in January. And the figure of 176 deaths is only up to 30 January, the organisation says. According to Sunil Kumar Aledia, an experienced activist with the organisation, the number of deaths recorded for January could still go up in the coming days. “Sometimes dead bodies lie abandoned on the footpaths and we find out about the deaths several days later,” says Mr Aledia, who has been venturing out in Delhi’s chilly nights to help the homeless. “All three weathers – winter, summer and monsoon – always result in deaths of homeless people [in the city],” he says. “Homelessness is a disaster situation. We talk about malnutrition or hunger but you can’t act on those issues unless you tackle homelessness.” According to CHD, deaths have been rising in busy areas like north and east Delhi, where several small businesses are located and which witness an influx of people coming from other states in search of work. While one drive across the city is enough to see the increasing number of the city’s homeless – many of whom take refuge under bridges, in parks and footpaths – the government’s step towards preventing deaths among the homeless has been limited to setting up night shelters. A barefoot, homeless person huddles next to a bus stand during a chilly winter night (Sunil Kumar Aledia/Centre For Holistic Development) The Delhi government’s night shelter scheme has been highly publicised, but according to activists and people living on the roads, spaces are becoming harder to come by. And for those who get access to beds, the situation isn’t necessarily better than what they suffer on the roads. Delhi has 296 shelter homes with over 9,000 beds. The homes, however, work on a first-come, first-serve basis. The centres, often temporary settlements, lack basic facilities like toilets or medical care despite several promises made by authorities to provide these. The number of beds in shelters is not even half the government numbers reported in previous years, with lack of data being the biggest problem, activists say. And while the number of beds was already an issue, the Covid pandemic has made things worse. Shelter homes are forced to adopt social-distancing norms, allowing an even smaller number to be taken in during the night. Covid has also wreaked havoc on the unorganised sector – cash-in-hand workers – forcing many small businesses to lay off helpers. According to activists, a majority of the homeless population in the city comprises of people working in unorganised sectors as labourers and helpers or of those pushed to begging or selling items on the streets. “Most of these people work in the unorganised sector where they are paid by the day,” says Sanjay Kumar, an activist with the charity Aashray Adhikar Abhiyan who runs a homeless shelter in the city. “These workers have no other place to go than to spend the night in the open, and look for work again in the day.” He estimates the homeless population in the city to be around 100,000. “In my experience, one per cent of the city’s population is homeless,” he adds. Activists working with the homeless find a dead body lying near a footpath (Sunil Kumar Aledia/Centre For Holistic Development) India defines homelessness as those who do not live in census houses, while the United Nations Economic and Social Council has a broader definition for homelessness, including security of tenure, affordability, access to services and cultural adequacy. Activists have time and again raised concerns about the lack of data when it comes to the counting of the homeless population, something that is also in a state of flux because many workers move to cities only during a certain season. The government, however, is yet to carry out a detailed seasonal survey. “There should be a proper mechanism to take a survey during winter, summer and monsoon. This can easily be real-time data but the government is not willing to do it,” explains Mr Aledia. Those sleeping on the roads are not only suffering through cold weather, but also high air pollution. India’s air quality levels have remained poor in the month of January at above 200 while Delhi has borne the brunt of the country’s toxic air crisis for several winters now. India’s extreme weather conditions are also only likely to intensify in the coming years. According to climate experts, the unusual cold the country is witnessing this year goes beyond what would be expected from seasonal changes. The harsh winter conditions this year are partly a result of La Nina, an oceanic and atmospheric phenomenon that is the colder counterpart of El Nino and which drives temperatures downwards, according to Aarti Khosla, the director of Climate Trends, a climate communications initiative. “This was anyway supposed to be a year of La Nina. But given how throughout last year first we had the heat stress, then back to back cyclone and concentrated monsoon, the cooling was more than natural as well,” says Ms Khosla. “Definitely there is a climate impact on all of this,” she says, adding that while one event may not be entirely attributed to climate change, the severity of these instances is definitely related.

CSE release new report presenting irrefutable evidence of the benefits of non-chemical agriculture

The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has stated that despite the push given to it, the country’s efforts to upscale non-chemical farming practices have largely remained half-hearted. Batting for natural farming, CSE released its new report; Evidence (2004-20) on holistic benefits of organic and natural farming in India, at an online event on Wednesday. There is robust evidence which makes it clear that we can upscale organic and natural farming. It is time to invest adequately in a well funded nation-wide programme for this”, said Sunita Narain, director general, CSE while releasing report with community members, who have been practicing or promoting organic and natural farming across the country. The finance minister has made a pitch for promoting chemical free natural farming and has encouraged states to revise the syllabi in their agricultural universities keeping in line with this new push. Says Amit Khurana, programme director, Sustainable Food Systems programme, CSE and co-author of the CSE report, "these are relatively small steps compared to the need of the hour, and especially after the prime minister's appeal in December to make natural farming a mass movement.” Khurana adds: “Hopefully, our new report, which highlights that there is strong long-term evidence that organic and natural farming is not only profitable and sustainable but also productive, will propel the country to invest more adequately to upscale and encourage such a mass movement." The report presents evidence collected and collated on aspects such as crop yield; cost of cultivation, income and livelihood, soil health and environment, and food quality and nutrients. It is based on two sets of sources; results of the All-India Network Project on Organic Farming (AI-NPOF), 2004-19 -- The project is currently being implemented across 20 centres in 16 states. The report compares results of three approaches -- organic, integrated (which partly involves chemicals) and inorganic (dependent on chemicals). About 90 scientific studies on organic and natural farming published during 2010-20 in India – these collectively add to and complement the overall evidence. The report makes a clear case to consider the holistic benefits of organic and natural farming, such as those related to livelihoods, soil health and environment (instead of only yield) in future policies and programmes. Specifically, through the AI-NPOF results, it presents long-term evidence on how benefits of organic approach outweigh that of inorganic approach (and also integrated approach to a large extent), with respect to profitability parameters such as net returns and soil health parameters like organic carbon, macronutrients, micronutrients, bulk density and rhizosphere microbial population. The evidence collected by the report bring out some interesting details: Evidence on crop yield: Out of the 504 times that yield results were recorded during 2014-19, the yields were found to be highest 41 per cent of the times with organic approach, followed by 33 per cent with integrated, and 26 per cent with inorganic approach. Evidence on income and livelihoods: Out of 61 cropping systems, net returns have been seen to be the highest in 64 per cent with organic approach at 12 centres, 11 per cent with integrated approach at four centres, and 25 per cent with inorganic approach at five centres. The five-year mean net returns with organic approach are higher than inorganic in 67 per cent cropping systems. Evidence on soil health: Cropping systems with organic approach have scored the highest in terms of all the parameters on soil health – organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The report’s findings on soil bulk density, soil bacteria, fungi, micronutrients etc also offer a similar verdict. “It is surprising how the results of the government’s own All India Network Project on organic farming, which has been present in the public domain for the last several years, did not get the required attention. It is also a concern how the entire issue so far has focused on yields and not on livelihoods and soil health benefits,” says Khurana. “It is evident that organic approach has fared better than integrated on profitability and sustainability and is almost at par with it in the case of productivity,” points out Abhay Kumar Singh, programme manager, Sustainable Food Systems Programme in CSE and a co-author of the report. Adds his co-author and the Programme’s deputy manager, Abdul Halim: “There is proof that natural farming involves low costs and helps in introducing resilient crops, energy and water efficiency, plant and animal biodiversity, carbon sequestration and climate mitigation.” The report recommends actions needed to upscale organic and natural farming – building a well-funded ambitious programme; training and supporting farmers during transition; making available quality organic fertilisers and bio fertilisers; enabling agriculture extension systems; farmer-friendly certification; enabling market access; and action at the state level. Narain said: “We now know that there are enough reasons to upscale organic and natural farming. We hope that the larger scientific community and policymakers recognise the strong case that we now have to transform the non-chemical farming initiatives in our country into a mass movement.”