Sifting out old habits

India is ambitiously treading on the path to sustainability with an aim to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2070.

- Amit Kapoor, Pradeep Puri & Ananya Khurana

Yet, Indian agriculture poses a formidable roadblock attributed to its significant GHG emissions. The roots of this issue trace back to the Green Revolution, which initially boosted food production but eventually became counterproductive.

In 2014, the Indian Agriculture Research Institute highlighted that the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) exhibit the highest global warming potential due to large-scale rice cultivation. Even after a decade, the situation persists. Rice, an Indian staple, is known to be a water-intensive crop and relies heavily on nitrogenous fertilizers, leading to substantial methane emissions. Nonetheless, Indian agriculture can potentially become a beacon of environmental sustainability.

The Green Revolution introduced an intensive rice-wheat cropping pattern in India. Favorable agro-climatic conditions, abundant natural resources, government support through input subsidies for power, irrigation, and fertilizers, and assured procurement of paddy at predetermined prices enabled this shift. Consequently, states like Punjab and Haryana in the IGP witnessed surges in agricultural productivity.

Prior to the Green Revolution, paddy productivity in Punjab was approximately 1.51 tonnes/hectare (ha), which surged by 150% to 3.83 tonnes/ha in 2010–11. Similarly, in Haryana, productivity rose from 1.16 tonnes/ha to 2.79 tonnes/ha in the same period, indicating a 140% increase.

Eventually, the dark side of the revolution was noticeable in the deteriorating environmental quality. As paddy production requires an average of 18 irrigations over 135 days, its intensive cultivation has depleted natural resources. Additionally, the quantum of rice production results in significant residue, predominantly burnt due to limited sustainable alternatives.