Travesty of Biodiversity

Kolli N Rao, PhD

What if we could live in harmony with everything around, a life in the wilderness? It is not easy to find the 'wilderness' these days, as many use it as a synonym for 'sustainable lifestyle for the environment'.

Growing up in a village in present day Telangana state in the mid-1960s and 1970s, I experienced wilderness, pastures & grasslands where livestock could graze freely. This was something I continued to enjoy on the vast agriculture college campus in Rajendranagar (near Hyderabad) during the early & mid-1980s. Most villages used to have community-based water bodies. In these rural areas there were vast areas of wilderness and alleys of trees that lined the paths leading to the farms. Almost every farming home had a pair of draught cattle and dairy cattle, and cattle shed or thatched roof for housing the animals. Penning sheep and goats during nights during late winters for their manure was a common sight on farms. The sizable cattle population provided plenty of manure to replenish the agriculture lands with organic matter.? The use of chemical fertilizers was very limited, and pesticides were rarely used except on red chilli crop that is famous in this region. The majority of the diet consisted of coarse grains (and, for the fortunate ones, rice) and vegetables. While fish was available, we occasionally had other meats and when we did, it was like a feast. We had chicken and eggs on special occasions that we raised ourselves. I had no idea, a few decades later, these would become a prized item known under the name of 'desi' (local and original).?

We ate the fruits of wildly growing trees, including tendu, parika pandlu (ziziphus oenoplia), sitaphala (custard apple), and ber (jujube). There were a few mango trees, gauva trees, etc. grown in the backyard, which we ate from. There used to be hardly any mono-cropped farms. Almost all farms, regardless of their size, were inter-cropped. In most cases, everything that was needed to eat was grown locally. Side effects was not a word familiar then. ??

Until fifth grade, I walked barefoot to school. Even without a pillow and a bedsheet, slept like a log most days on a 'nulaka mancham' (akin to a charpai in a roadside food joint).

It was an idyllic life in the wilderness that I talked about.

Although I have been less frequently travelling to the area, can nonetheless say that much of the biodiversity there has been lost. There is no longer any evidence of those fruits wildly grown in my childhood days in those areas. Nowadays, most fruits eaten in the region are either grown on farms with heavy dose of pesticide applications or imported from other geographies. The less said about the food, the better.

During Covid lockdown, I spent much time in the rural area and became nauseated by the smell of pesticides used unchecked on the crops. It was unpleasant experience to note that hardly any crop is grown without using several rounds of pesticides. In my recent visit, a farmer said he sprays his red chilli crop almost every week to protect it from pests. ??

Rather than consuming the fruits of biodiversity, we began to consume the biodiversity itself.

Excuse me if I sound boastful or boring.

There is a hint that the world is not as wild as it used to be, indicating that another species, human beings, is taking on a wild form (a narrative amplified by the documentary series entitled "Life on Our Planet")

Below are a few key messages regarding biodiversity from an agricultural perspective:

Genesis 1:11 of the Holy Bible, says, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed bearing plants and trees that bear fruit with seeds in them". Haven't we moved far away after deciding what the land should produce? By using the verse, I am illustrating the relationship between the land and its vegetation rather than referring to religion or faith.

Soil Health:

We often refer the soil as dirt and mud, but it is the Earth's "living skin" and is the sustaining force for life on the planet. Over a quarter of the Earth's biodiversity lives in soil, and approximately 95 percent of our food is derived from soil.?It is true that plants rely on the soil for everything they need, however, the amplification of its effects on humans as a result of population growth and environmental changes is tremendous.

So, the foundation of a healthy life is a ‘healthy soil’. Also, there is three times more carbon in soil than in the Earth's atmosphere - and unhealthy soil contributes to greenhouse gas emissions by releasing that carbon into the atmosphere. I should mention that United Nations declared soil to be 'finite'.

Extreme Weather:

Remember, extreme weather events and climate change are no longer probabilities. In recent years, they have become increasingly certain and definite.

Even though numerous parameters of importance manifest themselves independently, the collective effects of wide spectrum of these parameters, particularly the extreme weather conditions and poor soil health, can have a profound impact on biodiversity and life on our planet.

Aggressive Crop Practices:

Overuse of fertilizers (mostly phosphorus and nitrogen) and pesticides results in residues washing up in rivers and water bodies, including groundwater, polluting them.

Agricultural chemicals have eliminated pollinators, as have monocropping practices and the use of pesticides.

As a result of water-guzzling crops being grown despite several impending warnings, the water tables are depleting faster than Shoaib Akhtar's cricket ball (??).

In the coming decades, land use changes, unsustainable resource use, and land and water pollution will undoubtedly put more pressure on biodiversity. A simple and easy way to understand this issue would be by looking at how an increasing population and reduced resources vis-a-vis the smaller population and undiminished resources in the past, resulted in an increasing demand on the planet. Biodiversity is not an option. In order to avoid irreversible changes for the worse, it must be preserved at all costs.

It is well known that human health, animal health, and environmental health are closely related. The Covid-19 pandemic is an example of this.?

GMO Crops & Pesticide Use:

While there may be a debate on the use of GMO crops which otherwise minimize the use of pesticides and other harmful chemicals, several Nobel laurates have endorsed the use of these crops, stating that the adverse effects of these crops, if at all, would be minimal compared to the risks associated with excessive pesticide use.

Grain Drain:

The scientists from Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) recently said, the country facing a serious problem of ‘grain drain’. The foodgrains that we now eat lost food value and instead accumulating toxins. This is a dire warning but the problem lies in the way the crops are grown disregarding soil health, injudicious use of fertilizers, pesticides, aggressive cultivation practices, and all that can be identified with present day production systems, disregarding the need to maintain the biodiversity.

It is necessary to strike a balance between food requirements and aggressive farming practices. Growth in economic activity and increasing populations will continue to threaten biodiversity unless a balance is struck. It is not necessary to sacrifice one for the other.

We Must:

We must restore biodiversity, the scientists and commentators say, the thing we gradually removed for centuries and much faster over the past few decades. It is imperative that we reverse this trend. As responsible individuals, we can do a number of things, including:

• Consuming healthy foods (fruits, vegetables, and fewer starchy foods) could contribute significantly to the preserve the biodiversity and the planet.
• In addition to eating healthy food, using renewable energy, planting trees, and saying 'NO' to waste, we can make a significant difference.
• Help the farming community to adopt regenerative agriculture practices

There is a very difficult road ahead, but it is not impossible. There is a need for action on many fronts - from communities, society, researchers, administrators, and above all the policy makers and global leaders. Hopefully, everyone who matters will come together to protect biodiversity and the environment. ?? ?

?Note: Views expressed are based on literature on this topic and are personal in nature ?