Article on agro-biodiversity

Agro-biodiversity : role and relevance in agriculture

written in Kannada by Sham Kashyap
Senior Research Associate, ATREE

translated into English by Ms Kalpana Prasanna
Executive Assistant to the Director, ATREE

Biodiversity is an extensively used term in almost all fields related to development. Biodiversity refers to the diverse life forms present in a given area. Biodiversity is essential to maintain the natural balance in the environment. It is a tragedy that the diversity of fauna and flora is decreasing on a global level. In order to protect and nurture the depleting biodiversity, we have various organizations running programmes like CBD by United Nations and treaties like WTO.

Agro-biodiversity is biodiversity limited to agricultural area / field. This includes the crops such as paddy, raagi, jowar and their types, plants and trees that grow in weed-infested areas, greens, cattle, poultry, livestock and their varieties, insects and reptiles found in agricultural land and microscopic organisms found in agricultural land.

Agriculture is a human-driven activity. It has been created to cater to the economic, social, cultural needs of humans; as a result it is almost impossible in most of the situations to protect the natural biodiversity in agricultural areas. It is also a fact that humans cannot control nature. Agriculture is a special profession in the sense that it has to balance between human needs and protect the natural biodiversity in the farm.

Hence, it is essential for agriculture to complement nature rather than compete with it. Humans have learnt this art of co-existence since ancient times through trial and error method. Human beings have put in efforts to understand the unique features of a given region and adapted to agricultural practices to ensure protection of nature and fulfill their needs as well without going on at loggerheads with nature/environment. This traditional knowledge has become the favourite topic for environmentalists and sustainable agriculturists.

However, in recent times, there is an accusation that modern technology which came in along with Green Revolution has upset the natural balance. For example, let us look at the insecticides used. Apart from the pests affecting crops, animals die due to the toxic effects of insecticides. Similarly, the birds and bees too have been decreasing in number. This leads to problems of pollination and, retaining a balance in nature become difficult. There are challenges of social and economic nature which one is faced with while trying to continue the traditional methods.

It is helpful to the agriculturist to protect the biodiversity when examined from this perspective. There have been several scientific studies done on the benefits of conservation of biodiversity; the economic advantage of it and, sustainability of diversity from nature’s perspective. However, it is difficult to indicate with certainity the amount of benefit for human vis-à-vis amount of biodiversity. It is not possible to have comprehensive information encompassing in-depth analysis of presence of various life forms and their complete impact on human life.

When one were to observe the diversity at state level, Karnataka has had plenty of crop diversity right from the start. We cannot grow crops of Kodagu in Mysore. It is difficult to grow crops that are acclimatized to growing in Mysore and trying to growing them at Chitradrurga or Dharwad. The crops found there are not found at Gulbarga.

There are multiple crops on a regional basis in Karnataka with diversity of animal life seen in accordance with the sub-categories of crop. The extremities of weather are responsible for this crop diversity in Karnataka. It is essential to note that the benefits of diversity depend upon the diversity available in a particular land. There are very few studies done which reveal the average diversity found in a farmer’s land in Karnataka. Hence, it becomes difficult to estimate the average benefit experienced by each farmer due to diversity in crops.

Given below are some broad economic, social and natural benefits of protecting agricultural biodiversity:

a) When there is multiple cropping with diversity even if one crop fails, the farmer does not experience heavy loss.
b) If one crop is attacked by pests, the chances of it spreading immediately is lessened due to diversity of crops. Along with this, if there are a variety of bacteria and insects in the land, the spread of pests is controlled.
c) The diversity of the crops must be in line with the environment and weather conditions of a given place. This lessens the impact of natural catastrophes on the land. It also helps to minimize the loss of fertility.
d) Studies done by some NGOs like Deccan Development Society and Medhak Andhra have revealed that traditional methods of conserving agro-biodiversity helps small landholders to have food security without loans and also helps them retain their rights over small/scattered property and get social justice.
e) Agro-biodiversity caters to other needs of the farmer such as fodder along with harvested crop, manure, greens etc.

While the above benefits have been proven by research, the quantum benefits of agro-biodiversity depend upon the practical application.

There are two popular method of conserving biodiversity in the context of agriculture:
a) Traditional (method) biodiversity based on local/traditional/general knowledge. The important aspect under this method is to make use of traditional/local methods/grains to protect and develop locally-suited biodiversity.
b) Protecting biodiversity along with giving more importance to high-yielding, economically beneficial varieties - Here, there is less focus on grains like raagi, jowar and navane which aren’t profitable crops. Commercial crops based on market demand are catered to. They are conserved and attempts to bring about diversity in their produce are made.

This interpretation is used mainly by Government organsiations, industrialists, and management experts. Their stand is that this type of diversity is more profitable for agriculture. Farmers with huge land-holdings, who grow commercial and fruit crops have adopted this method. There is a lot of encouragement for this in Karnataka.

Sometimes biodiversity also leads to loss

a) The maximum income obtained by a single farmer certainly gets reduced by biodiversity. For eg, let us look at Vanilla crop assuming it is the highest profitable crop. If a person has 2 acres land, and plants vanilla in 1 acre and vegetables in the balance 1 acre, there would be a variety of 3-4 crops in a given season. It works out profitable if the harvest is good. If Vanilla were to be grown in the entire 2 acres, it would work out certainly more profitable. However, in the event of crop failure, the farmer growing exclusively vanilla crop will suffer from massive loss. The farmer growing both vanilla and other crops/vegetables can make up for the loss of one crop in another.

b) The benefits that we get from biodiversity depends upon our understanding and implementation of the same. This means the idea/regional experiences with biodiversity come into play. For eg., let us look at Vanilla again. It is definitely not a local crop as far as Karnataka is concerned. If one has this in their land alongwith other crops, the agri-biodiveristy of one’s land certainly gets increased. However, it is not possible to state whether this conserves the balance of nature or if all benefits of biodiversity can be obtained (for eg. variety /diversity in food).

c) Not all animals, plants (even if they are part of nature) are beneficial to agriculture. For eg. if there are 5 types of weeds and insects on the farm, no doubt diversity exists, but it will also destroy the crop harvest.

In conclusion it can be said that apart from the economic and social challenges of agriculture, the impact of agriculture on environment has become a major challenge today. The biodiversity present in agriculture contains the answer to the two issues to some extent. However, research is required on the appropriate use of biodiversity to ensure maximum benefit is obtained. A holistic approach which combines both the local traditional knowledge with modern technology is required.

Translated into English by Ms Kalpana Prasanna, Executive Assistant to the Director, ATREE

The article was originally written in Kannada by Sham Kashyap and published in a Kannada weekly called Vikranta Karnataka.

Sham works as a Senior Research Associate with the Ashoka Trust for Ecology and Environment. His work deals with exploring relationships between land use patterns, government policies and sustainable development.

Viewpoint on WTO and Liberalization

Written by Sham Kashyap

Please click on the images to read the text

About the article: The article is a short introduction to WTO and liberalization and discusses it's relevance for farmers in Karnataka. Sham's article was first published in the May 11th-May 18th 2007 issue of a Kannada Weekly, Vikranta Karnataka.

About the Author: Sham Kashyap holds two post-graduate degrees, one in Computer Science and the other in Agricultural Economics from Kansas State University. Sham has specialized in Evolutionary Computation and Artificial Intelligence as well as Agricultural biodiversity.

He did an internship in 2005 with UNICEF where he did a case study on the quality of education in rural government schools in Chamarajnagar district. Between 2003 and 2006, Sham also gained significant work experience in integrated pest management using non-pesticide techniques.

Sham works as a Senior Research Associate with the Ashoka Trust for Ecology and Environment. His work deals with exploring relationships between land use patterns, government policies and sustainable development.

Forest Notes

The Gift From The Misty Monkeys

Written by Rajkamal Goswami, RA, KMTR

The sun scorched above me as I started my trip up the misty mountains to revisit my extended family of Nilgiri langurs, the Misty Monkeys of the Sahayadris. In the next two and a half hours, dramatic changes in weather conditions would unfold.

I would be climbing from sea-level to 1330 meters above sea level and the temperatures would drop from a scorching 38-39 degrees centigrade to a cool 18-22 degrees centigrade.

I feel apprehensive as I climb higher and higher. The first glimpse of a lonely Langur during the trip makes my heart almost skip a beat. Would the Nilgiri langur families whom I had befriended still remember me as I do them? Would they still be as friendly towards me as before or would I have to start the whole process again?

I did miss them in my urban abode. Did they too miss me??? All these questions kept churning inside my head as I reached our field station. I had a quick dinner prepared by the ever-smiling Rajan and then crashed for the night inside my warm sleeping bag.

Next day at 5.00am I was on my way after filling my flask with some hot tea. Amidst the fusion of darkness and the faint early dawn light, I trod along a trail running right through a nullah. I fervently hoped that the search won’t be a long one. Thankfully, I spotted some of my misty monkey friends pretty soon. They were busy breaking their roost with some of them already feeding on Cullenia exarillata flowers.

My anxious questions were answered soon. Viola!!!! They hadn’t forgotten me!!! They didn’t run away from me as I approached them except for that old female whom I had observed as a confirmed loner, and two other females. I was a bit puzzled to see this trio staying away and acting a bit coy. When I observed them carefully, I had a pleasant surprise.

All three of them were nursing three very cute brown hairless Nilgiri langur infants! What a lovely gift they presented me with on my return. So, the rain had worked it’s magic! I was overjoyed to see the baby monkeys. I did expect to see some newborn langurs, as this is the time of the year when it is peak birth season among them. However, never did I realize that nature would be so bountiful upon them. Three new births in a troop of 12 langurs is big news!
Watching the activities of the new born monkeys was nostalgic. The first hesitant and guarded steps of the infants climbing from one branch to another with the mother watching intently, reminded me of my own childhood days when committing mistakes and falling down were actually fun. It was a treat to watch the newborn babies. For about a week, the new borns didn’t move at all except for curling up in their mother’s cozy lap.

The mothers were also extremely protective. On the slightest sign of alarm or distress the mothers would hide their babies tightly inside their arms. Then, they would quickly run up to an invisible part of the tree, mostly a high well leaved branch. After about a week or so the babies started to venture out on their own, by moving out a step or so from their mother’s lap but would quickly return to safety. Their real play activities started when they turned a month old. They would jump from one branch to another with very short leaps, while the mother would be feeding on some fruits, flowers or leaves.

The babies would also try to occasionally imitate their feeding mother by trying to eat some leaves or flowers but then they wouldn’t really eat them. When they were afraid or nervous the babies would emit some sounds similar to the chirping of birds. I noticed this quite conspicuously in a 2-3 week old infant when he reacted nervously to the loud hoo hoo call of the alpha or the dominant male.

To me, watching these infants grow has been as rewarding as watching my close relative grow. Their mistakes, their vulnerabilities, their nervous looks, their curiosities are so very similar to ours. Observing the activities of these infants felt like I was revisiting my own infanthood.


About the author: Rajkamal works as a Research Associate with Dr T. Ganesh, ATREE Fellow. His current research work focuses on observing the behavioral response of the Nilgiri Langurs to various disturbance gradients in the Kodayar range of the Kallakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu.

Terms of use: You are permitted to print / download / email this article for your personal non-commercial use only. No part of this article may be reproduced or transmitted to or stored in any other web site or published in print media without prior written permission of the author of this article - Rajkamal Goswami. Requests to republish this article may be addressed to Rajkamal Goswami at rajkamal@atree.org or The Eco-Informatics Centre at ecoinfoindia@atree.org.