Adopt eco-friendly agriculture: expert

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India’s efforts to achieve food security should focus on the revival of agricultural biodiversity and eco-friendly farming practices, according to noted environmental activist Vandana Shiva.

In a paper presented at a three-day seminar held in connection with the ongoing Annam National Food and Agro Biodiversity Festival, Ms. Shiva advocated a ‘return to nature’ policy as the global response to the food crisis, the mounting debt burden and the impact of climate change.

“Biodiverse ecological agriculture provides higher nutrition and food per acre than industrial agriculture. It reduces emissions and mitigates the effect of climate change while also helping adapt to it. And it frees farmers of the debt burden,” she said.

Ms. Shiva said industrialised agriculture and globalised food systems were responsible for the food crisis.

“Over the last one year, the price of wheat went up by 130 per cent while the price of rice doubled during the first three months of 2008. Globalisation has led to the destruction of local food economies and increased control by profit-driven multi-national corporations. Global integration of agriculture has in effect resulted in global control of the world’s food supply,” she said.

Ms. Shiva said India’s integration into the global market had led to the rise in food prices.

“In the early days of globalisation, the agri-businesses that dominated trade lowered the prices to grab markets. But once the corporations created import dependency, they started increasing prices. Speculation through futures trading has also driven up prices. Climate change and the diversion of food to bio-fuels are adding to the upward pressure on international prices,” she said.

Ms. Shiva said the situation warranted the need to focus on food sovereignty.

“It makes both political and economic sense to achieve self-reliance in food and agriculture.” She said the emergence of seed monopolies and the shift to agricultural practices based on chemicals and genetically engineered organisms had burdened farmers with heavy debts.

The Hindu