Apart from coming up with new solutions, institutions of higher education could contribute towards ecologically sustainable agriculture by educating and facilitating farmers in adopting sustainable farming techniques, said K. Satyagopal, Commissioner of Revenue Administration, and former Director General of National Institute of Plant Health Management.
Addressing a brainstorming session on ‘Ecosystem engineering for sustainable agriculture’ at Madurai Kamaraj University on Friday, Mr. Satyagopal stressed reduction in use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides and move towards organic methods.
Referring to the MKU’s initiative to adopt 400 villages both directly and through its affiliated colleges, he said students could become agents of change by helping farmers adopt various emerging and proven techniques in organic farming.
India had to adopt excessive use of chemicals in farming to ensure food security, he said, adding there had been a realisation now that these methods caused ecological damage in the long run, particularly affected soil health.
There was a shift in many countries towards sustainable farming, and many of these techniques were cheap and easily available.
For instance, the technique of bio-priming of seeds of rice and other crops involved inoculation of beneficial fungus that could act as fungicide on the seeds. The National Institute of Plant Health Management had come up with cost-effective and easily adoptable methods in bio-priming of seeds, which could considerably increase yield, and resist pests and crop diseases.
“Similarly, though soil testing is widely prevalent, farmers are not relying upon the results to assess the quantity of urea and other fertilizers needed. Instead, they use excessive quantities of fertilizers,” he said.
“By doing this, farmers are spending money to lose money since use of more nitrogen-release fertilizers leads to excessive growth that will attract more pests. Consequently, farmers have to spend more on pesticides,” he said.
Mr. Satyagopal also elaborated on a number of techniques like use of vermicompost, mycorrhization and ecological engineering that need to be adopted by farmers.
P.P. Chellathurai, Vice-Chancellor, in his inaugural speech, stressed that the university was not content with producing quality research work, but strived towards taking the benefits to the masses, particularly to those from rural and underprivileged background.
