Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Reconciling Biodiversity Conservation with Agricultural Intensification: Challenges and Opportunities for India


Affiliations
1 Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Royal Enclave, Sriramapura, Jakkur Post, Bengaluru 560 064, India
2 School of Ecology and Conservation, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bengaluru 560 065, India
 

India will surpass China as the world’s most populous country by 2050, with a projected population of 1.67 billion1. Al-though the rate of population growth has decreased, the total fertility rate of 2.2 will keep India’s population growing for decades2. The challenges posed by such increase in population to India’s food security, already under strain from land and resource scarcity, are enormous. Climate change and extreme weather events are already impacting agricultural production, disproportionately affecting vulnerable sections of society through higher food prices, lost livelihood opportunities, adverse health impacts and displacement.
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • Population Reference Bureau, World Population Data Sheet (on-line), 2019; https://www.prb.org/worldpopdata/
  • Pandey, S., Down to Earth (on-line), 2020; https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/governance/why-the-debate-over-india-s-population-explosion-is-on-the-wrong-track68985
  • Swaminathan, S. et al., Lancet Child Adolesc. Health, 2019, 3(12), 855–870.
  • Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, Ecosystems and human well-being: biodiversity synthesis. World Resources Institute (on-line), 2005; www.millenniumassessment.org/en/Synthesis.html
  • Tilman, D., Cassman, K. G., Matson, P. A., Naylor, R. and Polasky, S., Nature, 2002, 418, 671–677.
  • Douglas, E. M., Beltrán-Przekurat, A., Niyogi, D., Pielke Sr, R. A. and Vörösmarty, C. J., Global Planet. Change, 2009, 67(1–2), 117–128.
  • Mythili, G. and Goedecke, J., In Economics of Land Degradation and Improvement – A Global Assessment for Sustainable Development, Springer, Cham, Switzerland, 2016, pp. 431–469.
  • Siddiq, E. A., Bridging the rice yield gap in the Asia-Pacific Region, Food and Agriculture Organization-Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, 2000, 74, 84–111.
  • https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/agriculture/how-will-you-double-farmers-income-european-union-to-pm-modi/articleshow/69837021.cms?from=mdr
  • Norris, K., Conserv. Lett., 2008, 1(1), 2– 11.
  • Rasmussen, L. V. et al., Nature Sustain., 2018, 1(6), 275.
  • Balmford, A., Green, R. and Phalan, B., Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. B., 2012, 279(1739), 2714–2724.
  • Power, A. G., Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London Ser. B., 2010, 365(1554), 2959– 2971.
  • Diamond, J. M., Guns, Germs and Steel: A Short History of Everybody for the Last 13,000 Years, Random House, London, 1998.
  • Ganeshaiah, K. N., Shaanker, R. U. and Vasudeva, R., Curr. Sci., 2007, 93(2), 140.
  • Sunderland, T. C., Int. For. Rev., 2011, 13(3), 265–274.
  • Fischer, J. et al., Conserv. Lett., 2014, 7(3), 149–157.
  • Green, R. E., Cornell, S. J., Scharlemann, J. P. W. and Balmford, A., Science, 2005, 307, 550–555.
  • Phalan, B., Onial, M., Balmford, A. and Green, R. E., Science, 2011, 333(6047), 1289–1291.
  • Ostrom, E., Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1990.
  • Mander, Ü., Mikk, M. and Külvik, M., Landsc. Urban Plann., 1999, 46(1–3), 169–177.
  • https://www.minnpost.com/?s=farming+as+if+nature+still+mattered
  • Ramankutty, N., Foley, J. A. and Olejniczak, N. J., Ambio, 2002, 31(3), 251– 258.
  • Ranganathan, J., Daniels, R. R., Chandran, M. S., Ehrlich, P. R. and Daily, G. C., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 2008, 105(46), 17852–17854.
  • Hendrickx, F. et al., J. Appl. Ecol., 2007, 44(2), 340–351.
  • Perfecto, I., Vandermeer, J. and Wright, A., Nature’s Matrix: Linking Agriculture, Conservation and Food Sovereignty, Routledge, Earthscan, London, 2009.
  • Sundar, K. G., Biol. Conserv., 2011, 144(12), 3055–3063.
  • Vandermeer, J. and Perfecto, I., Conserv. Biol., 2007, 21(1), 274–277.
  • Perfecto, I., Vandermeer, J. and Philpott, S. M., Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst., 2014, 45, 137–158.
  • Altieri, M. A., Front. Ecol. Environ., 2004, 2(1), 35–42.

Abstract Views: 423

PDF Views: 136




  • Reconciling Biodiversity Conservation with Agricultural Intensification: Challenges and Opportunities for India

Abstract Views: 423  |  PDF Views: 136

Authors

Vikram Aditya
Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Royal Enclave, Sriramapura, Jakkur Post, Bengaluru 560 064, India
P. S. Sumashini
Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Royal Enclave, Sriramapura, Jakkur Post, Bengaluru 560 064, India
N. A. Aravind
Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Royal Enclave, Sriramapura, Jakkur Post, Bengaluru 560 064, India
G. Ravikanth
Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Royal Enclave, Sriramapura, Jakkur Post, Bengaluru 560 064, India
Chandrashekara Krishnappa
School of Ecology and Conservation, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bengaluru 560 065, India
R. Uma Shaanker
School of Ecology and Conservation, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bengaluru 560 065, India

Abstract


India will surpass China as the world’s most populous country by 2050, with a projected population of 1.67 billion1. Al-though the rate of population growth has decreased, the total fertility rate of 2.2 will keep India’s population growing for decades2. The challenges posed by such increase in population to India’s food security, already under strain from land and resource scarcity, are enormous. Climate change and extreme weather events are already impacting agricultural production, disproportionately affecting vulnerable sections of society through higher food prices, lost livelihood opportunities, adverse health impacts and displacement.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv118%2Fi12%2F1870-1873