Stated in simple terms, the crucial challenge facing the agriculture sector in India today is to enhance production while minimising its environmental impact. This includes conserving resources like land, water and biodiversity that determine the performance of the agriculture sector. It is in this context that the approach of sustainable agriculture is being increasingly acknowledged as the paradigm shift that is required in India’s agriculture sector if national food security goals are to be met. In fact, this is not a question of food security alone but also of strengthening livelihood security as the sector also doubles as the backbone of the rural economy.

However, these arguments in favour of sustainable agriculture are not uncontested and proponents of the counterview argue that the quantum growth in agricultural production that is currently required in order to close the gap between demand and supply of food cannot be provided by sustainable agriculture. It is true that sustainable agriculture technologies are unlikely to provide the quantum leaps in crop production similar to those achieved by green revolution, but it is also true that in the long term, the weaknesses of the green revolution technologies become apparent as the higher yields initially obtained are not sustained over the years as the supporting resources get depleted at a rate that is higher than that at which they are regenerated. Sustainable agriculture, on the contrary provides for incremental advances in production that is sustained even in the long term without depleting the natural resource base.

The discourse around sustainable agriculture sometimes mistakenly equates it with organic agriculture, a comparison that fails to acknowledge the multiple dimensions of sustainable agriculture that make it sustainable, instead defining it through the narrow lens of completely doing away with chemical additives in agriculture. Sustainable agriculture encompasses social and ethical aspects of agriculture addressing the livelihood concerns of farmers as production end stakeholders as much as the health concerns of the consumer end stakeholders. It can even allow for the use of targeted use of chemical agri-inputs to the extent that these are within safe ecological limits. The challenges with organic agriculture are many, including the heavy cost of certification that is not affordable for most small scale farmers and it is probably not widely applicable as a suitable strategy, at least not when weighed against the challenges of securing the food security of the country. As a consequence, the possibly valid arguments against organic agriculture as a mainstream strategy are sometimes unfairly used to oppose the mainstreaming of sustainable agriculture. In this context, it becomes worthwhile to generate a better understanding of sustainable agriculture in its multiple dimensions.

One of the most holistic definitions for sustainable agriculture is the definition accepted by the USDA (United State Department of Agriculture), by which, ‘an agricultural production system is sustainable if, over the long term, it enhances or maintains the productivity and profitability of farming in the region, conserves or enhances the integrity and diversity of both the agricultural production system and the surrounding natural ecosystem, and also enhances health, safety, and aesthetic satisfaction of both consumers and producers.’ This definition of sustainable agriculture makes it clear that in order to bring sustainability into the agricultural sector what is required is dealing with inter-linkages between technology, society and environment and therefore the creation of synergies between the efforts of multiple stakeholders from multiple disciplines. In the following sections of this article, we will explore only few of these dimensions of sustainable agriculture that will need to be addressed if the strategy has to respond to the food security demands of the country.

All too often, agricultural policies in India fail to recognise the centrality of the farmer in the quest for improving production. The best of technologies will not perform to potential if the farmer who is adopting them is not adequately trained. The agri-extension infrastructure to enable farmers to access improved technologies needs to be revamped with facilities to build the capacity of the farmers. Farmers have been observed to be averse to the idea of shifting to sustainable agriculture practices due to the assumption that their land has ‘got addicted to chemical additives’ and will fail to perform otherwise. Such entrenched unscientific perceptions will need to be countered through appropriate farmer education programmes to build their confidence in and acceptance of sustainable agriculture. Also unrecognised remains the ability of the farmer to contribute in the process of technology development. Building the capacity of the farmer to articulate their needs and the ground realities will help the process of technology development to be responsive to farmers’ needs and thereby lead to enhanced adoption of such technologies.

Farmers’ institutions also need to be established and supported for promoting a culture of shared decision making that leads to more equitable and sustainable utilisation of resources. Such institutions are also instrumental in helping the farmers negotiate better with market forces and also engage in value addition of their produce, thereby helping them secure improved profitability. Enhancing the profitability of agriculture for the farmer is of crucial importance in the context of the increasing disillusionment of farmers with the promise of farming as a viable livelihood. Farmers’ institutions also need to be capitalised upon to exploit their potential as information channels that will allow relevant information such as agro-meteorological forecasts and agro-advisories to be shared with farmers that will in turn enable them to quickly adapt to emerging scenarios to reduce their vulnerability.

The diversity of agro-ecological contexts in the country means that there cannot be ‘one size fits all’ strategy for sustainable agriculture in different agro-ecologies. This diversity points to the need to decentralise the processes and institutions pertaining to technology development and dissemination so that these are able to cater to the specific contexts and needs of specific agro-ecological contexts. The diversity of responses becomes even more important in the context of rain-fed agriculture which represents a major portion of India’s agriculture sector.

Adding to the complexity of challenges is the issue of diversity in the range and extent of climate change impacts across these agro-ecologies. There is a need to scientifically track the impacts of climate change and how these affect different agri-ecological contexts and to develop appropriate and responsive adaptation strategies.

If India is to transition to sustainable agriculture from its current agricultural regime, it will need to act on its multiple dimensions in a synergistic manner. It also becomes clear from the above dimensions that the true measure of the success of sustainable agriculture will be in its ability to reinstall the farming community’s faith in agriculture as a viable livelihood and its competence in helping farmers adapt to the changing climate and reducing their vulnerability. Moreover, it must also be remembered that sustainability is always a moving target in the context of the constantly evolving challenges and the ability to constantly evolve to address such challenges is what will eventually make sustainable agriculture truly sustainable. q