Agriculture occupies approx 45% of the total land mass of the country and is a source of income for more than 50% of our people (ICAR). We are heavily dependent on the monsoon and ground water, as less than 50% of the arable land is irrigated. Steadily growing population, a young nation and rising standards of living will lead to shift in food patterns.

Surface water irrigation constitutes almost 95%, while other water efficient techniques like sprinklers and micro-irrigation constitute the balance. While increasing agriculture yields is a priority, this is largely done through the use of artificial fertilizers, hybrid seeds and use of pesticides. Over the long term, these farming practice result in top soil degradation and erosion. While natural farming was once prevalent in India, it is now relegated to a few initiatives – either enlightened or premium commercial. Due to increased migration to cities, food is transported over large distances – in the process resulting in increased use of energy, food wastage and problems in distribution. The changes in our lifestyles mean that we eat more processed and packaged foods - which are poor in natural nutrients and contain a good amount of preservatives, chemicals and probably artificial nutrients. This has resulted in an increase in incidence of lifestyle diseases, like Diabetes, cancer etc.

Schools/Colleges:

How do we make our food production more sustainable? How do we ensure we are able to solve the problem of malnutrition? How do we change consumer behavior – because without change in behavior the farmer cannot do much?