Biodiversity, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation

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1 Biodiversity, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation Prof. M. S. Swaminathan Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, Member, National Advisory Council, Government of India and Chairman, M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation. The Author, who is the father of the green revolution in India, has written a very incisive Article on biodiversity and its importance in food security and poverty alleviation. The importance of containing genetic erosion and conserving biodiversity has been highlighted. Prof. Swaminathan advocates the need for launching a biodiversity literacy movement so that from childhood onwards everyone is aware of the importance of diversity for the maintenance of health, food, water and livelihood security as well as ensuring a Prologue climate resilient food production system. Prof. Swaminathan reiterates that we must harness biodiversity for poverty alleviation and this can only be done if we can convert biodiversity into jobs and incomes on a sustained basis. Since, in the Indian agricultural context monsoons have a major role to play, he advises monsoon management methodologies for maximising its utility in food security. A very perceptive article by a humane and visionary mind. - Editor Biodiversity provides the building blocks for sustainable food, health and livelihood security systems. It is the feedstock for both the biotechnology industry and a climate resilient farming system. Because of its importance for human well being and survival, a Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was adopted at the UN Conference on Environment and Development held at Rio de Janeiro in The Convention s triple goals are: conservation, sustainable use, and equitable sharing of benefits. The Convention also recognizes that the biodiversity existing within a country is the sovereign property of its people. India is a signatory to CBD and has enacted a National Biodiversity Act which is in force since Inspite of the importance given to the conservation of biodiversity, genetic erosion is progressing in an unabated manner, both globally and nationally. For RITES Journal 5.1 July 2010

2 5.2 Biodiversity, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation example, 12% of birds, 21% of mammals, 30% of amphibians, 27% of coral reefs and 35% of conifers and cycads are currently facing extinction. According to the World Conservation Union (IUCN) over 47,677 species may soon disappear. A comprehensive study published in Science (29 April 2010) has revealed that there has been no notable decrease in the rate of biodiversity loss between 1970 and Even a very unique species like the Orangutan, the closest relative of man, is threatened with extinction in the island of Borneo. To generate awareness of the urgency of genetic resources conservation, May 22 nd of every year is being commemorated as the International Day for Biological Diversity has also been designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Biodiversity. Leaders from 170 countries are scheduled to gather at a UN Biodiversity Summit in Nagoya in Japan in October 2010 to adopt a road map for stopping biodiversity loss. The challenge now is for every country to develop an implementable strategy for saving rare, endangered and threatened species through education, social mobilization and regulation. The Nagoya Summit will lead to meaningful results only if biodiversity conservation is considered in the context of sustainable development and poverty alleviation. Indira Gandhi pointed out at the UN Conference on the Human Environment held at Stockholm in 1972 that unless we attend concurrently to the needs of the poor and of the environment, the task of saving our environmental assets will not be easy. Biodiversity loss is predominantly related to habitat destruction largely for commercial exploitation as well as for alternative uses like roads, buildings, etc. Invasive alien species and unsustainable development are other important causes of genetic erosion. How can we reverse the paradigm and enlist development as an effective instrument for conserving biodiversity? Let me cite a few examples to illustrate how biodiversity conservation and development can become mutually reinforcing. In 1990, I visited MGR Nagar Village near Pichavaram in Tamil Nadu for studying the mangrove forests of that area. The families living in MGR Nagar were extremely poor and were not getting the benefits of Government schemes since they had not been classified either as scheduled caste or scheduled tribe. The Collector mentioned that this matter is under study. The children had no opportunities for education and the fishermen were catching fish and shrimps by hand. When I asked the parents why they are not sending their children to school, the answer was that schools were far away and that they are not getting admission because of the delay in their classification as SC or ST. I then mentioned to my colleagues, saving mangrove forests without saving the children for whose well-being these forests are being saved makes no sense. With the help of a few donors, we started a Primary School in the village and got all the children irrespective of their age to join the School. A few years later, the State Government took over the School and expanded its facilities. Following the Tsunami, the huts were also replaced by brick buildings and the whole scenario of MGR Nagar changed totally. Recently, the leader of the village met me and said that they would like the School developed into a Higher Secondary School with facilities for +2 classes. He also mentioned that they now know the value of mangroves since the root exudates from the mangrove trees enriches the water with nutrients and

3 Prof. M. S. Swaminathan 5.3 promotes sustainable fisheries. Further, during the 2004 tsunami, mangroves served as speed breakers and saved the people from the fury of the tidal waves. He said that everyone in the village now understands the symbiotic relationship between mangroves and coastal communities. It is clear that hereafter mangroves in this region will be in safe hands. Another example relates to the tribal families of Kolli Hills in Tamil Nadu. The local tribal population had been cultivating and conserving a wide range of millets and medicinal plants. However, due to the absence of market for traditional foods, they had to shift to more remunerative crops like tapioca and pineapple. The millet crops cultivated and consumed by them for centuries were rich in protein and micronutrients. They were also much more climate resilient, since mixed cropping of millets and legumes minimizes risks arising from unfavourable rainfall. Such risk distribution agronomy is the saviour of food security in an era of climate change. How then can we revitalize the conservation traditions of tribal families, without compromising on their economic well-being? MSSRF scientists started a programme designed to create an economic stake in conservation, by both value-addition to primary products and by finding niche markets for their traditional foodgrains. Commercialisation thus became the trigger for conservation. Today many of the traditional millets are once again being grown and consumed. They now proudly sing, biodiversity is our life, which is also the key message of the International Year for Biodiversity. A third example relates to the tribal areas of the Koraput region of Orissa which is an important centre of diversity of rice. Fifty years ago, there were over 3500 varieties of rice in this area. Now this number has come down to about 300. Even to save these three hundred varieties it is essential that the tribal families derive some economic benefit from the preservation of such rich genetic variability in rice. Now, they in partnership with scientists, have developed improved varieties like Kalinga Kalajeera, which fetches a premium price in the market. For too long, tribal and rural families have been conserving genetic resources for public good at personal cost. It is time that we recognize the importance of promoting a genetic conservation continuum, starting with insitu on-farm conservation of landraces by local communities, and extending upto the preservation of a sample of genetic variability under permafrost conditions at locations like Svalbard near the North Pole maintained by the Government of Norway or Chang La in Ladakh where our Defence Research and Development Organisation has established a conservation facility under permafrost conditions. How can we harness biodiversity for poverty alleviation? Obviously, this can be done only if we can convert biodiversity into jobs and income on a sustainable basis. Several institutional mechanisms have been developed at MSSRF for this purpose, such as Biovillage and Biovalley. In Biovillages, the conservation and enhancement of natural resources like land, water and biodiversity become priority tasks. At the same time, the Biovillage community aims to increase the productivity and profitability of small farms and create new livelihood opportunities in the non-farm sector. Habitat conservation is vital for preventing genetic erosion. In a Biovalley, the local communities try to link biodiversity, biotechnology and business in a mutually reinforcing manner. For example, the Herbal Biovalley under development in Koraput

4 5.4 Biodiversity, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation aims to conserve medicinal plants and local foods and convert them into value added products based on assured and remunerative market linkages. Such sustainable and equitable use of biodiversity leads to an era of biohappiness. Tribal families in Koraput have formed a Biohappiness Society. There is a need for launching a Biodiversity Literacy Movement, so that from childhood onwards everyone is aware of the importance of diversity for the maintenance of food, water, health and livelihood security as well as a climate resilience food production system. The Government of India has started programmes like DNA and Genome Clubs to sensitize school children about the importance of conserving biodiversity. Wherever there is strong interaction between biodiversity and cultural diversity, we see rich agro-biodiversity, i.e., diversity which is economically valuable and life sustaining. The Government of India has also started recognizing and rewarding the contributions of rural and tribal families in the field of genetic resources conservation through Genome Saviour Awards. We need similar awards for those who are conserving breeds of animals, forests and fishes. The Biodiversity Act envisages action at three levels Panchayat level Biodiversity Committee responsible for conservation as well as for operationalising the concept of prior informed consent and benefit sharing, State level Biodiversity Board and National level Biodiversity Authority. These three units of the bioresources conservation movement should ensure that all development programmes are subjected to a biodiversity impact analysis, so that economic advance is not linked to biodiversity loss. The Biodiversity Day and the Biodiversity Year remind us that we should do everything possible to spread bioliteracy among the public and usher in an era of biohappiness in biodiversity rich areas. Then, biodiversity hot spots will become biodiversity happy spots. Biodiversity and Monsoon Management The India Meteorological Department has predicted that the 2010 South West Monsoon is likely to be normal. A recent article in the well-known Science Journal, Nature points out that the current national emission targets are not sufficient to limit global warming to 2 o C during this century, as called for in the Copenhagen Declaration. Present pledges including that of India are likely to lead to a world with global emissions of 47.9 gigatonnes to 53.6 gigatonnes of CO 2 equivalent per year by This is about 10 to 20 percent higher than today s levels. A 1 o C rise in mean temperature will lead to a reduction in wheat production in India by 6 to 7 million tonnes per year. A climate resilient agriculture, which we need urgently, will have to be based on a two pronged strategy i.e., maximizing farm productivity and production during a normal monsoon period, and minimizing the adverse impact of unfavourable weather as witnessed during Unfortunately, we are yet to develop an anticipatory research and extension programme to minimize damage during unfavourable monsoon periods. For example, the deficiency in rainfall during the South-West Monsoon of 2009 was 23%. The growth in agriculture and allied sector GDP was -0.2% last year. The highest growth rate in agriculture GDP of 5.2% was observed during when the growth in total GDP was 9.5%. Had we had a scientific monsoon management strategy, we could have minimized the loss last year. Similarly, if we have a strategy

5 Prof. M. S. Swaminathan 5.5 for maximizing the benefits of a good monsoon, we can hope to achieve atleast 5% growth rate during in agriculture and allied sectors. In parts of China like the Yunnan province, which has experienced 60% less rainfall than normal, there is a move to grow different crops together in the same field, thereby distributing the risk arising from monoculture. It is time to develop a pro-active monsoon management strategy consisting of the following five components. First, we must improve soil health and help farmers to benefit from the nutrient based subsidy regime which has been introduced with effect from 1 st April If used properly, this revised approach to fertilizer subsidy should promote balanced fertilization with concurrent attention to both macro- and micro-nutrients as well as soil organic matter. To benefit from this revised approach, farmers should have access to Soil Health Cards containing credible information on the chemistry, physics and micro-biology of their soils. Some States like Gujarat have started the practice of empowering farm families with Soil Health Cards. Factor productivity is low now because of lack of attention to micro-nutrients and soil organic carbon content. Second, we must maximize the benefits of all available water sources rain, ground, river, treated effluents and sea water. The lessons learnt from the over 5,000 farmer participatory projects designed to maximize yield and income per drop of water, organized by the Union Ministry of Water Resources, should be extended to all farms. Every farm in rainfed and dry farming areas which constitute 60% of our total cultivated area should have a farm pond, a biogas plant and a few fertilizer trees. This will help to build Soil Carbon Banks and also farm level Water Bank which will help to undertake crop life saving irrigation when needed. Energy management is another important requirement for irrigation water security. Electricity or diesel are essential for both ground water use and for lift irrigation. Third, we should launch a programme for spreading the best available technologies including the most appropriate seeds in the 128 agro-climatic zones of our country. I suggest that during June 2010, the faculty and post-graduate students of agricultural and animal sciences universities, the staff of the various departments of Government related to agriculture and irrigation, and representatives of lead banks and NABARD should go from village to village in each one of these zones for checking whether seeds and other essential inputs are available. Such Monsoon Management Teams may be constituted jointly by the State Government, Financial Institutions, State Agricultural and Animal Sciences Universities, concerned ICAR Institutions, farmers associations and Panchayat Raj institutions. If these Teams are constituted immediately, they can plan their visit to every village in each one of the 128 agroclimatic zones during June, so that farmers can benefit from an intensive exposure to new technologies and climate resilient agronomic methodologies. June 2010 may be declared as Monsoon Management Month. Four, both credit and insurance agencies should do their best in taking credit to the last mile and last farmer and get them the benefit of the 5% interest rate for farm loans announced by the Finance Minister. Similarly, insurance companies should deliver the benefits of insurance to every farm family. Under the Mahila Kisan

6 5.6 Biodiversity, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation Sashaktikaran Pariyojana announced by the Finance Minister, all women farmers should be enabled to have access to credit, technology, inputs and market. Finally, the economic viability of farming will depend upon access to assured and remunerative markets. The Minimum Support Price announced for nearly 25 crops must be enforced. A National Grid of Grain Storages starting with the Pusa Bin at the farm level, storage godowns at the village level and modern silos at the regional level should be established without further delay. It is painful to observe the spoilage caused to food grains as well as to perishable commodities due to poor storage conditions, when we observe the toil of farm women and men in sun and rain to produce them. Many of our problems in the field of food and nutrition security are not related to the lack of schemes, but to the over abundance of disjointed programmes operated by different Ministries. For example, there is little coordination among large national programmes like the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, Food Security Mission, Horticulture Mission, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme and many other projects. If only there is convergence and synergy among these programmes, our progress in improving the productivity, profitability and sustainability of small farm agriculture will be fast. The Finance Minister had announced that the following schemes will be promoted during in the farm sector : Conservation farming and climate resilient agriculture in the heartland of the green revolution, viz., Punjab, Haryana and Western UP in order to defend the gains already made. Stimulating green revolution in Eastern India which has a large untapped production reservoir through integrated packages of technology, services and public policies. Launching a Pulses and Oilseeds Revolution in rainfed areas through the organization of 60,000 pulses and oilseed villages Launching a post-harvest technology and value addition revolution through ending the prevailing mismatch between production and post-harvest technologies and by promoting agro-processing and agri-business. The South-west monsoon is just beginning. We have only a few weeks for launching a Maximise the benefit of a good monsoon movement and for ensuring last mile and last farmer connectivity with reference to knowledge, technology, seeds, credit, insurance and market. Unless the Government of India and the State Governments take immediate action in organizing the Monsoon Management Teams in each of the 128 agro-climatic zones, the Finance Minister will have serious problems in linking outlay with outcome when he presents the budget next year. There is no time to relax and every day lost will be a blow to the food security of our country, which is already suffering from extensive malnutrition. I wish to reiterate that the future belongs to nations with grains and not guns, since guns can be purchased easily in the global market, but grains cannot be purchased as our efforts to import pulses to contain food inflation revealed this year. *****