Back to nature: Immense need for crop diversification and role of agroforestry
The traditional approach of low input-based extensive and diversified agricultural practices termed as ‘crop diversification’ could be an alternate approach that might be used to save farming as a counter-strategy for farming bio-socio-psychological anomalies. Crop diversification is a strategy applied to grow more diverse crops from shrinking land resources with an increase in productivity in the same arable land.
For more than five decades, Indian agriculture has been facing severe problems related to an increase in input cost to increase productivity. However, the productivity proportional to input maintains for a certain time before plateauing and then progressively declines in many cases.
Farmers have been using the common government-promoted Green Revolution cropping pattern — rice-wheat-rice for a longer time to enhance productivity. Unilaterally, following the same cropping pattern for a longer period of time has extracted the specific nutrients from the soil, resulting in soil deficiency in those nutrients along with a declined population of microfauna in the soil.
Traditional pattern of agriculture in India has wider crop diversity, more stable and pro-nature. In the Garhwal Himalayan region of India, Barahnaja is a crop diversification system for cultivating 12 crops in a year. ‘Barah anaaj’ literally means ‘12 foodgrains’ and is the traditional heritage of the area. Agroforestry also contributes to a multifunctional production system which enhances biodiversity due to the creation of diverse habitat for macro- and micro-organisms and maintaining landforms for future generations.
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जोधपुर के लूणी क्षेत्र में पानी को पीकर मर रहे हैं वन्यजीव: राजस्थान
जोधपुर के लूणी क्षेत्र में इन दिनों अवैध कपड़ों की फैक्ट्रियां चल रही हैं, ग्रामीणों ने कई बार प्रशासन को शिकायत करने के बावजूद भी कोई कार्रवाई नहीं की जा रही है ऐसे में कपड़ा फैक्ट्री संचालकों के हौसले बुलंद होते जा रहे हैं। इस रासायनिक युक्त पानी के पीने से कई गायों और घरेलू जानवरों और अन्य जंगली जानवरों की मौत हो गई है।
लूणी क्षेत्र के धवा के राजेश्वर नगर में चल रहे अवैध कपड़े धोने की फैक्ट्रियों से केमिकल युक्त पानी निकलने से लोग और मवेशी भी परेशान नजर आ रहे हैं। वहीं स्थानीय ग्रामीणों का कहना है कि राजेश्वर नगर में पिछले कई सालों से 3-4 फैक्ट्रियां अवैध रूप से चल रही हैं।
कई बार प्रशासन को सूचना भी दी गई लेकिन अभी तक समस्या का समाधान नहीं हुआ है, साथ ही ग्रामीणों ने बताया कि बालोतरा से हर दिन चार से पांच वाहन कपड़े धोने के लिए आते हैं। जिससे खेतों में केमिकल युक्त पानी जमा हो जाने से प्रतिदिन जंगली जानवर पीने के पानी के कारण मर रहे हैं। वहीं वन्य जीव दो-तीन दिन बाद मर जाते हैं, जिस पर स्थानीय ग्रामीणों और युवा साथियों में रोष है।
Lack of Funds, Veterinarian Plagues Country’s First Camel Hospital: Rajasthan
The country’s only camel shelter-cum-hospital located in Sirohi, Rajasthan, is plagued by a lack of funds and doctors. Managed by the People for Animals (PFA), which describes itself as “India’s largest animal welfare organisation” on its website and operates 26 hospitals and 165 units across the country, the shelter has a veterinarian who offers only online consultation.
Several of the 100 camels staying in the open are visibly sick with advanced mange. The infected camels don’t have a separate enclosure, which increases the risk of the infection spreading in the approximately two-acre shelter. One of the camels has an amputated foot and cannot stand.
The doctor examines the sick animals online, said one staff member requesting anonymity. All the eight Raika staff members help to hold down a camel when it is administered an injection and are also responsible for the well-being of the animals. Four of them routinely move out looking for neem trees they can chop down to bring back fodder for the camels.
Karnataka: Over 2,600 acre forest land converted to create tree parks, shows data
Over the years, a total of 2,656.683 acre of forest land in Karnataka has been converted to create tree parks. This includes 1,275.54 acre of reserve forest, 337.07 acre of district forest, 292.24 acre of micro forest, 61.77 acre of protected forest and 401.69 acre of declared forest among others, reveals data from the Karnataka Forest department.
Quoting from the Forest Conservation Act, a senior forest official said, “Converting such a huge area of forest for non-forestry purposes without prior approval of the Union Environment Ministry is illegal. Each and every work undertaken in the forest requires approval of the Union Environment Ministry.”
According to the Karnataka Forest Department, since the inception of the tree park scheme in the year 2011-12, a total of 132 tree parks have been developed across the state.
Despite massive opposition from the citizens, the government has planned to convert J B Kaval Reserve Forest into a tree park. Since a tree park was already created in a part of J B Kaval Reserve Forest area, environmentalists have questioned the rationale behind creating another tree park.
Karnataka: Students to join Nagarahole forest team as interns
In a first-of-its-kind move in Karnataka, the Nagarahole Tiger Reserve (NTR) has decided to induct college students as interns. A few selected students will join the Nagarahole Tiger Conservation Foundation (NTCF) programme to get hands-on experience on the functioning of the forest department, the authorities said.
The NTCF is a registered society of the NTR. ‘An internship is an opportunity for a candidate to secure practical work experience… Indian students from recognized universities in India securing at least 60 per cent marks in their last degree or certificate examination or those who are pursuing their degrees are eligible for the internship,’ the NTCF stated in a circular.
The minimum duration of the internship is two months, and it can be extended up to five months depending on the performance of the candidate and requirement of the NTCF, the Foundation said.
Environment India 