(Juhi Aishwary, Journalist): Constant use of chemical fertilizers has reduced the essential nutrients found in the soil. Now the time has come for us to adopt organic farming, both for nature and health. Many countries have taken steps in this direction, but in India, attention is still being given to it.
The famine in Bengal (present-day Bangladesh, India’s West Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa) in 1943-44 made the policymakers realize that the first priority was the stomach. After this, all the paths to the growth of agriculture were found and the Green Revolution was celebrated.
New methods of farming and fertilizer supplements began to be tightened. Efforts to make the country self-reliant at a rapid pace turned agriculture into commercialism. We have secured food at many levels, but along with this insecurity called Hidden Hunger has also emerged. We could not fully live up to the definition of a balanced diet.
On one hand, there was a shortage of essential nutrients for the body, on the other hand, there was a glut in the use of such elements in agriculture, which were fatal to the body. All this happened due to the mood of the soil, which we made sick with heavy use of chemicals. Actually, in the competition of food security, we remained concerned about the production, but the quality of it continued to deteriorate. The country made food safe but also brought the body in the grip of dangerous elements.
All in danger
We mainly need nitrogen and phosphorus in farming. They are produced in large quantities for this. Their main source rocks in which these mineral salts are found. The use of chemical fertilizers in large quantities is also a factor of environmental disparities. Excess phosphate gives rise to a fungus called cyano-bacteria whose toxin is harmful to the body.
The type of phosphorus fertilizer made of rocks contains cadmium. Excess of cadmium in the body is harmful to the kidney, while phosphorus rocks contain an excess of fluoride. Today fluoride is the major cause of stomach to dental disease. Many chemical fertilizers also contain radioactive substances, depending on the type of rocky rocks they are made of.
Similarly, the waste of steel industries is used in zinc chemical fertilizer, but along with its elements like lead, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, and nickel also get carried into the soil. The use of excessive amounts of nitrogen leads to a lack of oxygen in the water, which adversely affects water life.
The excess of these elements is no longer easily removed from water and soil. Constant use of chemical fertilizers has led to a shortage of other essential nutrients in the soil. Micro-organisms that contribute to making the soil fertile have disappeared due to chemical fertilizers. Nitrous oxide derived from ammonia fertilizer production is the second major cause of air pollution after carbon dioxide.
Give priority to safety
Many countries including Europe, Britain, and Australia have started taking serious steps towards this, but the situation in their country is even more serious. In the absence of any kind of control here, the situation has become more deadly. The farmer here is taught to us that more water and fertilizer are mainly necessary for a good crop and that is why both have been misused beyond the limit.
Today, India is the second-largest producer of chemical fertilizers in the world. No one can be proud of it because we are killing the soil nutrients due to its excessive use. If this continues, then there will be major consequences soon. With both water and soil toxic, our lives will also be in danger.
In order to conserve soil nutrients, the government should bring the organic manure industries to prominence. The organic manure industry will make a major contribution to the protection of both the environment and food. Not only this, but we will also be able to generate more employment on a large scale because the houses and villages will contribute a lot to it.
Biological mission did wonders
In the year 2016, Sikkim has declared the first organic state of the country. The state was also awarded the Oscar Award by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in the year 2018 to ensure compliance with the best policies for organic produce. Today, in Sikkim, 50 percent of tourism has increased in the country and the world so far because it is an organic state.
In fact, in the year 2003, the then Chief Minister of Sikkim Pawan Kumar Chamling had announced in the assembly that the excessive use of chemical pesticides was almost on the verge of ending the fertility of the state farms. In such a situation, there will no longer be the use of chemical fertilizers and if anyone is found using it, he will be fined one lakh rupees or sentenced to three months.
This government implemented this law with complete honesty and followed it. Today, the biological mission of Sikkim is a great example for the world, in which three things are clearly visible. First, the intention of the government second, the direct participation of the people, and third, the determination of the environment. These three things presented a new face of Sikkim to the world today. Unfortunately, this experiment of Sikkim is discussed and praised all over the country, but no other state has made such a big catch or followed it. (The author is a noted environmental activist awarded with Padma Bhushan)
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