In this 21st century we can savor any food that we desire to. Today distance is no barrier in getting what we want. With the advancement in science and quality of transportation, food can be stored for very long time. We can enjoy any food at any place at the cost of good amount of money. These foods are expensive because they are resource demanding and high input cost.
The regular capsicum costs 20 rupees while the exotic colored capsicum costs 80 rupees, which is 4 times that of regular capsicum. The regular cauliflower costs 15 rupees while broccoli costs 60 rupees per kg. The exotic food are in high demand in sophisticated shopping malls, metro cities, luxurious hotels, international tourist 's places, etc. who can afford to buy these expensive food.
What Is Replaced by What?
Cauliflowers being replaced by exotic ground water depleting Broccoli.Now the farmers are tempted to cultivate remunerative exotic crops in place of traditional crops. As a result, the crop patterns in India are changing without consideration for local agroclimatic conditions and simultaneously putting a burden on environment, incurring huge long-term losses.
Broccoli depletes more ground water than cauliflower. Similarly celery and parsley are replacing coriander (cilantro) while millets are being replaced by oats in several places. Some examples showing the effect of replacing traditional crops with exotic cash crops on environment, health and food security have been discussed below.
Consequences of This Change
Here’s a detailed look at a few upsets that the cash crops have brought about in different regions impacting environment, health and food security. After 1970s, the farmers in Mandya, Karnataka shifted from traditional finger millet (ragi) to more profitable but water-intensive paddy and sugarcane crops. The low rainfall put the crops in Karnataka at risk.
The problem was aggravated due to the changed crop pattern. This forced the Government to stop water supplies to Tamil Nadu resulting in water conflict between the two states. Traditionally, in Maharashtra, millets and oilseeds which require less water were grown. Now by the influence of politicians a wide network of sugar mills have been set up.
Sugarcane covers only 4 percent of the total farmed land in the state. However, it consumes 71.5 percent of irrigated water. On the other hand, pulses take only 3.4 percent irrigation though they occupy 16.8 percent of cropped area in the state. The cost of sugarcane cultivation is Rs 1, 65,962 per hectare. This cause led to the growing farm distress and farmer suicides in the state.
Menthol cultivation in Bundelkhand (UP) is another crop that contrasts with the agro-climatic zone. A study in 2008 done by Parmarth Samaj Sevi Sansthan showed mentha got the highest per acre income of Rs 35,000. However, it is not profitable as the input cost of production was Rs 17,514 per acre. Most of the farmers complained about high cost, low income or low productivity.
Causes
A major cause for the vanishing of traditional crops and the expansion of high yielding but irrigation – heavy cash crops in the Indian fields is the large scale development of dams and canals along with increased access to ground water. The exotic plants require heavy dose of agrochemicals and assured irrigation.
However, now Indian farmers are realizing the importance of traditional crops and are reoccupying their land with them. The Dongria Kondh community in India’s Odisha state is endeavoring to revive their heritage millets. Millets ensure nutritional security during climate distress. Olive oil, sunflower oil, soybean oil etc. which are sold only in a ‘pure’ (highly refined, transparent and almost colorless) form are, in nutrition and health respects, inferior to traditional oils like mustard oil and coconut oil etc.
They penetrated into the Indian markets through heavy advertisements. These changes reduced the income of indigenous farmers for their mustard and sesame crops. The impact of the exotic crop on the natural resources has been manifested as the production scale expanded.
Declination of soil fertility, receding groundwater chemical pollution and changing food habits adversely affecting human health are its direct evidence. These evidences show that short-term financial gains can’t be a justification for long-term impacts on the environment and the farmer. Now the farmers are reverting back to use of traditional plants.
Written by - Nidhi Verma
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