Research Report: Farmers’ Awareness and Attitude towards Sustainable Agricultural Practices

NEW DELHI, 13 June 2021: With an increase in population & so the basic need of food, the use of chemical fertilizers has been increased per year exponentially & become essential.

Though this research an attempt would be made to study the general awareness and implementation of different kinds of sustainable agricultural practices among farmers

India’s agriculture is heavily dependent on the usage of fertilizers. Government data indicates that the fertilizer usage has averaged at around 500 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT) per year in the last 10 years. A parliamentary standing committee recommended for measures to ensure judicious use of fertilizers.

Globally, the consumption of fertilizers has been on the rise. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the consumption of fertilizers such as nitrogenous, potash, and phosphate fertilizers touched an all-time high of more than 140 kilograms per hectare of arable land in 2016. In India, the Green revolution was a major turning point resulting in the increase of chemical fertilizer usage.

As per the figures submitted in the Lok Sabha in March 2020, there is no specific trend in fertilizers consumption ( Urea & Phosphatic and Potassic (P&K) in the country in the past nine years. The data for 2019- 20 is up to January only and till then, India’s fertilizer consumption was close to 500 Lakh Metric Tonnes, in line with the consumption figures the year before. Irresponsible use of chemical fertilizers will result in environmental problems

Excessive use of chemical fertilizers will result in soil acidification, heavy metals pollution, soil compaction, and changes in soil microbiome. This means that the pH level of soil and its density would change resulting in drop in fertility. Bacteria need to be present in soil for fixing nitrogen in the soil. In short, the plants and soil will be degraded if fertilizers are not used judiciously.

The research report has been done by Bhavesh Yadav, Research Scholar from Keshav Mahavidyalaya, University of Delhi.

Kindly read the complete report here

Image credit: cssh.northeastern.edu