Date: 16/05/2023

Relevance: GS-3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution and Degradation, Environmental Impact Assessment.

Key Phrases: Regenerative agriculture, Falkenmark's Water Stress Index, Ecological poverty, loss of soil organic carbon, soil organic carbon (SOC), Land Degradation, water scarcity, Regenerative Organic Certified, CO2 Sequestration, Climate change mitigation.

Why in News?

• Regenerative agriculture is seen as a solution to India's land degradation and water crisis, caused by unsustainable agricultural practices that contribute to climate change.
• It offers a way to restore soil health and productivity while improving the financial well-being of smallholder farmers.

Land Degradation:

• Over 29% of India's total area (328.7M ha) is degraded, posing a challenge to achieve land-degradation-neutrality by 2030.
• Soil erosion from agriculture surpasses the rate of soil formation, taking 500-1000 years for 1 inch of topsoil to form.
• Almost 17 states/Union Territories in India have been categorized as ‘over-exploited,’ worsening the water crisis.
• 76% of Indians face water scarcity according to Falkenmark's Water Stress Index, with agriculture being the main cause and using up to 91% of freshwater.

Ecological poverty and loss of soil organic carbon:

• Ecological poverty, defined as the lack of an ecologically healthy natural resource base necessary for human survival and development, could undermine India's progress in reducing income poverty.
• Smallholder farmers, who comprise 86% of farmers in India with an average landholding of 1.08 hectares, are particularly vulnerable to ecological poverty.
• In the past two decades, India's agricultural sector has experienced negative total revenues, making it difficult for small farmers to adopt climate-resilient technologies.
• As a result, unsustainable practices such as deforestation, overgrazing, monoculture cropping, and heavy use of chemical fertilizers and biocides are common, leading to soil degradation and loss of soil organic carbon.
• These practices increase greenhouse gas emissions, which are a concern for scientific organizations like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, as agriculture already contributes 25-30% of global GHG emissions.

Regenerative agriculture: A potential solution:

• A consensus is emerging among soil scientists that regenerative agriculture holds enormous potential to restore soil health and productivity in degraded landscapes while delivering financial benefits to smallholder farmers.
• It also improves water use and efficiency by enhancing the health and nutrient-holding capacity of the soil.
• Studies have established that a 1-percent increase in soil organic matter per 0.4 hectares (ha) increases water storage potential by more than 75,000 litres.
• There is now evidence from long-term field experiments globally that proves regenerative agricultural practices can significantly increase soil organic carbon stocks.
• The Government of India, as part of its climate commitment, has begun promoting several regenerative agriculture principles through National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture.

Defining regenerative agriculture:

• Regenerative agriculture is a farming practice aimed at building and improving soil fertility, sequestering atmospheric CO2, increasing diversity, and enhancing water and energy management.
• It is becoming standardized through third-party certifications, such as regenagri and Regenerative Organic Certified®.
• Regenagri has brought 1.25 million acres of land under regenerative practices and is developed by Solidaridad and Control Union.
• Food businesses such as Unilever and Nestle are also developing their own regenerative agriculture standards.

Debates on soil carbon credits through regenerative agriculture:

• Regenerative agriculture has been debated as a potential method for storing carbon in the soil.
• While some studies have raised doubts about the durability of Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) and the effectiveness of satellite-based measurement techniques, several scientific papers estimate a potential of 1.5 gigatons of carbon (GtCO2) per year for cropland sequestration globally.
• This potential can increase further if practices like composting, tree cropping, and biochar are included.
• Regenerative agriculture has the potential to remove 100-200 GtCO2 by the end of the century, several times more than the current level of emissions, making it a crucial tool in addressing climate change.

Benefits for small Indian farmers:

1. It helps restore degraded soils, improves agricultural productivity, and reduces costs due to less use of fertilizers and chemicals.
2. Healthier soils make farms more resilient against droughts and heavy rainfall.
3. Small farmers can generate additional income from the voluntary carbon credit markets, which are rapidly expanding.
4. FMCG companies are prioritizing partnerships with new suppliers who already have regenerative practices in place, which can help smallholders grow inclusively.

Hurdles for regenerative agriculture and potential solutions:

• Lack of Fair-Trade Mechanisms for SOC Trading:
  • The first challenge facing regenerative agriculture is the lack of mechanisms for trading soil organic carbon (SOC) using Fair Trade principles that ensure farmers receive a fair price.
  • These mechanisms should calculate a minimum price that covers the average costs of the project, plus an additional “Fairtrade Premium” to fund activities that help farmers become more resilient through regenerative agriculture.
• India's Carbon Credit Policy Ban on Export:
  • India's revised carbon credit policy banning export could limit options for smallholder farmers.
  • These farmers may lose out again if they are not allowed to export carbon credits at higher prices, especially after taking lower prices for decades to keep consumer prices stable.
• Certification Costs for Regenerative Agriculture:
  • The certification costs for regenerative agriculture and carbon verification are steep, which could limit the participation of smallholder farmers.
  • The government can consider extending subsidies for smallholder farmers to certification bodies enrolled with the Quality Council of India, the national accreditation body for certifications in India.
• Proliferation of Different Regenerative Standards:
  • The mushrooming of different regenerative standards can affect the credibility of the regenerative agriculture movement and smallholder farmers.
  • Developing a set of common values for regenerative agriculture standards, their certification protocols, systems, and tools with a focus on the positive impact on farmers as well as climate is necessary to avoid confusion and maintain credibility.

Conclusion:

• Climate change mitigation, food security, climate resilience, biodiversity, and soil health are all interrelated and these could be collectively achieved through regenerative agriculture.
• In this COVID-affected decade, Indian agriculture stakeholders must redesign agriculture the way it was done in the 1960s, which ushered in the Green Revolution.
• We don’t have much time to regenerate and revive our soil and avoid the depletion of water resources. On the other hand, regenerative agriculture is good for the people, the planet, and profit.

Source: ORF-Online

Mains Question:

Q. Discuss the challenges faced by Indian agriculture due to soil degradation and water scarcity and evaluate the potential of regenerative agriculture as a solution. Also, examine the benefits of regenerative agriculture for smallholder farmers in India.