Circular
State of Agriculture in India

Green Houses Gases (GHGs) are increasing leading to global warming, effective steps are being taken we hope a situation where oxygen levels decrease resulting in a situation of another Romer’s gap would not arise where the Oxygen levels fell below 10 to 13 %.

• Limiting families to smaller size
• Reduction of affluent consumption
• Keeping the quality of life in tact
• Reduction in the use of global resources
• Reclamation of land by better management, rigorous conservation of soils, fishes and forests that would eventually lead to the planet to produce more resources.

NRSA dynamic programme on Agriculture involves the application of Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology in sustainable agriculture management and development, which involves.

The strategy framework has to encompass to achieve higher productivity, reduce
the cost of cultivation by the optimizing various inputs like fertilizers for the diversified resilient agricultural systems.

Models addressing precision agriculture have to be addressed at the micro level, contextual to include the local variables, vulnerabilities and dynamisms of the agro-systems. The model here has to address high productivity based on conditions like Soil, Water conservation.

Scenario of potential and utilization of renewable energy:

1. Improving crop yield by seeds developed BARC :

1. Extension of shelf life to facilitate management, storage and distribution in Retail chain outlets, which are rapidly expanding in cities, and towns in India.
2. Value addition to the product by the improved quality
3. To overcome the quarantine and quality barriers in the international trade
4. Disinfestation of fruits and vegetables
5. Inhibition of sprouting in tubers, rhizome and bulbs
6. Delay in the ripening of fruits
7. Delay in senescence in fruits in fruits and vegetables
8. Destruction of pathogenic organisms responsible for spoilage
9. Improvement of public health

Source: Agriculture division, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation
                Horticulture division, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation
                Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture
                FAO production year book and FAOSTAT website

Disposal of sludge that is increased day by day with the expanding population in cities has become colossal, unenviable and next to impossible exercise. The liquid waste generated in India is around 44,000 million cubic meters per year. BARC has developed an excellent technology of radiation hygienisation of sewage sludge that ensures destruction of 99.96% of pathogenic organisms that are responsible for the disease burden in human population.

It is the duty of our corporations and municipalities to consider the establishment of plants to derive economic benefits of product of biofertilizer that is of great demand.

The only solution is apply environmental friendly technology like aerobic and anaerobic fermentation developed by BARC to produce valuable weedless organic manure and biofuel (methane) to generate electricity leading to reduction in the perennial demand for land as well as to meet much needed energy. Thus waste to energy technology is of paramount importance to achieve ecological sustainability and environmental integrity there by leading to enrichment of quality of life.

Producing the much-needed organic manure that is in great demand in the already depleted soils in India as well as alternate energy source is therefore important.
Power generation potential of MSW  in Indiais shown in table 1 below

Table 1: Power generation potential In India from MSW

Source: FICCI Environment conclave 2007 “Creating markets for sustainable waste management” February 20-21, 2007, New Delhi

This power-generated potential has to be exploited prudently to meet ever increasing power demands.

Since the primary source of food for humans and animals is based on plants that require all the elements (except carbon-di-oxide) is soil based via plant root system. No soil regardless of its initial mineral composition can continue to sustain without additional inputs. The technology developed by BARC (NISARGRUNA) leads to improvement of soil microbiology thus the microbial derived, organic manure.

1. Increasing the productivity of land and water resources and their conservation
2. Employment opportunities
3. Timely technological, accurate and reliable information in the hands of more than 100 million farm families to adjust their production strategies in accordance with the prevailing weather/ climatic regime and market trends in the sector.

Fertilizers play an important role in increasing the productivity of land. The demand for fertilizers peaks for short periods of one or two months during crop seasons, thus creating logistical problems in the movement, storage and distribution of fertilizers across the country.

Farmers are now aware of spatial variability in crop production, which is in turn related to difference in soil properties. Using the vegetation index, derived from crop reflectance in the red and near infrared bands of the electromagnetic spectrum as viewed from the IRS, spatial variation in crop yields and input usage can be delineated. GIS can also be used to further process the data and identify the administrative units that have unfavorable spatial variabilities.

Satellite based inputs for IPM :

• Implement legislative measures to stop growing crops prone to pets
• Monitor the time of sowing and harvest of the crops so that decisions on breaking the life cycle of the pest can be taken, and
• Estimate the acreage under primary (e.g. cotton) and alternate hosts (tomato, chilli, etc.) for assessing the carry over potential of the pest in off seasons.

All these factors are important components in the IPM, Researchers have applied image enhancement and classification techniques to identify and extract information on the spatial extent and distribution of healthy and diseased plants.
Space application data can also be used to study existing drawbacks in pest control systems. Such studies could help decision makers come to terms with the environmental implications of large-scale pesticide spraying.

Weather conditions have a major influence on pest populations and their natural enemies. An hour-by-hour study of cloud developments and rainfall estimation is possible through an analysis of satellite data. Many orbital satellites can be used for monitoring environmentally important phenomena. The weather parameters that can be remotely sensed are cloud types, the extent and duration of cold clouds, etc. information obtained from GIS and satellites systems have been used to study rust diseases of wheat crop, desert locust habitats etc. A GIS based information system called Geo-LIMIS (Geographically Encoded Locust Impact Minimization Information System) was developed by integrating remotely sensed landform, soil texture, soil moisture, vegetation density with the daily weather data to forecast the suitable breeding sites and time of on set of locust upsurge in land around the study area.

Management of other natural resources :

Forest management and mapping is essential to estimate and maintain bio-diversity. Changes in the vegetation cover for the entire country are monitored by Forest Survey of India using remote sensing and GIS tools (FSI, 2003). Satellite based methodologies have been developed for forest type mapping and for preparing working plans for the characterization of biodiversity at the landscape level. Illegal encroachments and estimation of damage due to forest fires have been detected by satellite imagery.
All integrated approach to natural resource management,

Remote Sensing and GIS tools have been used in a variety of ways to address the problems of urban traffic, transportation, greenery, solid waste disposal, pollution, location of new layout for urban growth, road alignments, etc. These techniques allow development of an information system at the level of land ownership and allow an integrated approach to land resource management.

The annual monsoon is a major factor shaping the Indian economy. Through some insulation has been achieved from the unpredictable monsoons through the expansion of irrigation facilities, much more needs to be done. The Agro meteorological Advisory Service initiated by the India meteorological Department and the State Departments of Agriculture in 1975assists farmers by supplying them with information on weather, crop growth stage and likely weather impacts for a three-day period.

Environmental governance as became an acute and urgent problem to be attended in view of green House gas emissions that have global impact and acid range that have transboundry impact.
With reference to Asia countries like as Japan, North, South Korea, Taiwan, and Philippines have reduced sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions between 1980 and 1987.

SO2 emissions has increased by 50% India, China and Thailand but nearly double Pakistan, China is 2nd Largest emitter of SO2 after USA with 20 Million tons per a year, India emissions are much lower at 3 million tons due to low sulphur contained of coal (less than 1%) transboundry emissions of acid range has not became of seriously problem till now. But the greater concern is the high ash contained of Indian coal, How ever the Oxides of Nitrogen (NOX) emissions of 2.5 Million tons rapidly growing to vehicles pollution.

The gaseous emissions in Asia leading to Asian brown cloud hovering over China and India is a problem to be tackled in view of the importance to human health.

Scientific dimensions of gaseous emissions, acid rains are not fully appreciated despite their profound damage.

Denial of scientific data may be politically strategic but unacceptable in an increasingly interdependent world.

The vision of Dr. Bhabha and Dr. Sarabhai was that we take the country from the state of backwardness to progress. Their vision of using nuclear and space technology in the development matrix getting precise information on natural resources, water, environment, agriculture, geology, oceanography, forestry, weather forecasting, mineralogy, navigation, education, communication and broadcasting, each one so critical in the context of national development has come in to reality today. India has a very unique position in using radiation and space technology for national development. Our vibrating nuclear and space technologies are now ready for the use at the grass root level. We have to devise the right strategy for deployment of these technologies in the development matrix in India.