Crop diversification way for sustainability for climate change

**Crop Diversification: A Key to Sustainable Agriculture**

### 1. Introduction

Agriculture is a cornerstone of human civilization, providing the food, raw materials, and economic base for many societies around the world. However, modern agricultural practices have faced challenges related to environmental sustainability, climate change, economic risks, and the degradation of soil health. One solution to many of these challenges is **crop diversification**, a farming practice where a variety of crops are grown in a given agricultural area. This approach is gaining increasing attention as a way to improve farm resilience, enhance biodiversity, and promote sustainable agricultural practices.

Crop diversification has been a fundamental aspect of traditional farming systems across the world, and it is being rediscovered as a modern strategy to address contemporary challenges in agriculture. This essay will explore the concept of crop diversification, its benefits, the challenges of implementing it, and the role it plays in promoting sustainable agriculture. By examining the environmental, economic, and social aspects, this paper will highlight the importance of crop diversification for the future of global agriculture.

### 2. The Concept of Crop Diversification

Crop diversification refers to the practice of growing different types of crops within the same agricultural system. This can take many forms, such as:

1. **Intercropping**: Growing two or more crops simultaneously in the same field. For example, planting beans alongside maize.
2. **Crop Rotation**: Alternating the types of crops grown in a particular field from one season to the next.
3. **Agroforestry**: Integrating trees and shrubs with crops to create more diverse ecosystems.
4. **Polyculture**: Growing a variety of crops in the same area, typically focusing on ecological benefits.
5. **Multiple cropping**: Growing more than one crop in a given period, either within the same year or across seasons.

In contrast, **monoculture** refers to the practice of growing a single crop on a large scale over vast areas. While monoculture farming has some advantages, including increased efficiency and ease of management, it comes with significant risks such as the depletion of soil nutrients, increased vulnerability to pests and diseases, and the over-reliance on chemical inputs like fertilizers and pesticides.

### 3. Historical and Cultural Context of Crop Diversification

The practice of crop diversification has been around for centuries, especially in indigenous agricultural systems. Many ancient cultures, such as the Inca in the Andes or the Mayans in Mesoamerica, practiced advanced crop diversification techniques. These systems were often based on ecological principles and the understanding that growing a variety of crops would not only provide better yields but also protect against unpredictable weather patterns and pests.

In regions like Asia, intercropping was commonly used to maximize l

1. Crop Diversification: Way for sustainability under changing climate scenario 1 Mahendra Choudhary ID No. 58422 Ph.D. Scholar

2. 2 Introduction Crop Diversification Drivers of Diversification Strategies Research findings Conclusions Sequence of presentation

3. The total global food demand is expected to increase by 35 - 56% between 2010 and 2050, while population at risk of hunger is expected to change by −91 - +8% over the same period. If climate change is taken into account, the ranges change up to 62% for total food demand and affected 170 million people (van et al., 2021) . Fig. 1: Trends and projection of population in the world (source UN report 2021) 3 Introduction

4. Crop diversification is the practice of bringing desirable changes in the existing crop/ cropping system toward a more balanced and lucrative system To meet the ever-increasing demand for food, feed, fiber, and fuel and also To maintain soil fertility and agroecosystem A shift from a less profitable and sustainable crop or cropping system to a more profitable and sustainable crop or cropping system Crop Diversification 4

5. Market and price risks Risk associated with existing crop-management practices Adverse changes like degradation of natural resources and the environment Attaining self-sufficiency in some crops Earning foreign exchange Socio-economic needs like employment generation Why do we need crop diversification 5

6. Major Driving Forces for Crop Diversification 6

7. Approaches of Crop Diversification 7

8. Replacement of low-yielding low-value crops with high-yielding high-value crops. Intercropping in rainfed areas Diversion of high water requirement crops with less water requiring crops. Legumes intervention Inclusion of energy-efficient crops Inclusion of crops with both domestic and international demands Systems with high productivity, profitability, and sustainability. Strategies for crop diversification 8

9. Herfindahl Index Transformed Herfindahl Index Simpson Diversity Index SI = 1-(proportionate area of food grain in the gross cropped area) Bhatia’s method Ways to measure crop diversification 9

10. (https://fgc-consulting.fr) Research findings

11. Table 1: Location-specific alternative system Locations Prevailing system Alternate high productive system System System yield (REY) ( t ha -1 ) Net returns ( ×10 3 ₹ ha -1 ) System System yield (REY) ( t ha -1 ) Net returns ( ×10 3 ₹ ha -1 ) Jammu Rice-Wheat 11.3 68.6 Rice-marigold-French bean 30.1 168.0 Rice-potato-onion 29.5 148.5 Ludhiana (Punjab) Rice-Wheat 13.2 59.7 Maize-potato-onion 27.9 125.0 Groundnut-Potato-Bajra (F) 23.3 111.8 Modipuram (Uttar Pradesh) Rice-Wheat 12.9 32.3 Maize–Potato-Sunflower 24.2 68.2 Rice-wheat- Greengram 15.9 40.3 Sabour (Bihar) Rice-Wheat 11.0 43.0 Rice-potato-onion 29.0 83.7 Rice-potato-maize 15.7 54.1 11 Locations Prevailing system Alternate high productive system System System yield (REY) ( t ha -1 ) Net returns ( ×10 3 ₹ ha -1 ) System System yield (REY) ( t ha -1 ) Net returns ( ×10 3 ₹ ha -1 ) Bhubaneswar (Odisha) Rice-Rice 6.7 41.3 Rice-maize- cowpea 17.4 69.0 Rice-maize- greengram 14.8 50.8 Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu ) Cotton –sorghum-finger millet 4.1 48.2 Beetroot- greengram -maize + cowpea 7.1 93.1 Chilli + onion- sunhemp -okra + coriander 6.6 85.2 S.K. Nagar (Gujarat) G roundnut-Wheat-Fallow 4.1 65.4 Ground nut–wheat-sesame 7.0 125.1 Groundnut- onion- greengram 5.0 81.4 Hyderabad (AP ) Rice- Rice 7.9 22.9 Maize-onion 12.3 59.6 Maize-tomato 12.1 48.1 Mean 9.2 47.2 16.9 85.8 ( Gangwar and Singh, 2011)

12. Sequence Grain yield (kg/ha) Straw yield (kg/ha) Biological yield(kg/ha) Wheat -rice 5500 6708 12208 Chickpea-rice 6104 7330 13432 Lentil-rice 5469 7302 12760 Pea –rice 5604 7197 12802 Wheat- mungbean -rice 6510 8552 15078 Wheat-sesbania-rice 6249 8481 14697 Wheat-maize+cowpea-rice 5708 7562 13270 Chickpea-maize+cowpea rice 5864 7229 13062 Lentil-maize+cowpea-rice 5458 6864 12333 Pea-maize+cowpea-rice 5468 7344 12312 CD( P =0.05) 504 970 1149 Table 2: Grain, straw and biological yield of rice crop under different crop sequences Singh and Sharma, 2000 GBPUA&T, pantangar

13. R- LA- F= Rice-Lathyrus-Fallow R- LE- R= Rice Lentil-Rice R- P- F= Rice-Potato-Fallow R- R= Rice-Rice R-S= Rice-Sunflower R- P- PU= Rice-Potato-Pumpkin R- F- F= Rice-Fallow-fallow R- PG= Rice-Pointed gourd R- P- LF= Rice-Potato-Lady’s finger R- P- RG= Rice-Potato-Ridge gourd R- LE- F= Rice-Lentil-Fallow R- BG= Rice-Bitter gourd R- P- R= Rice-Potato-Rice Ray et al. (2020) West Bengal Fig 1. System yield ( t ha -1 ) based on the rice-equivalent yield of dry season crops in the rice-based cropping system 13

14. Cropping system System productivity (Mg ha -1 ) SYI 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 Pooled Fallow- Rice-Rice 4.64 4.80 4.74 3.81 3.96 4.41 0.79 Jute-Rice-Wheat 6.29 7.21 7.83 5.89 6.05 6.65 0.75 Jute-Rice-Baby corn 18.3 15.3 13.7 17.8 11.5 15.3 0.71 Jute-Rice-Garden pea 8.94 8.80 9.41 7.87 9.10 8.81 0.88 Jute-Rice-Mustard- Mung bean 8.13 8.51 8.13 7.23 7.10 7.61 0.82 SEm ( + ) 0.42 0.29 0.34 0.31 0.12 0.29 LSD (p < 0.05) 1.16 0.85 0.98 0.91 0.37 0.84 Kumar et al. (2021) CRIJAF, Barrackpore Table 3. Effect of different cropping systems on system productivity and Sustainable Yield Index (SYI) 14

15. Cropping sequence Profitability (US $ ha −1 day −1 ) Relative production efficiency (%) Labour employment (man days ha −1 year −1 ) Rice- Wheat-Fallow 3.52 E – 183 Rice–Wheat-Green gram 4.56 CD 36.79 D 254 Rice-Potato-Green gram 8.13 A 142.53 A 285 Rice–Wheat-Cowpea (F) 4.72 C 40.08 D 246 Rice-Potato-Cowpea (F) 6.80 B 40.08 D 259 Rice- Berseem-Maize (F) 6.80 B 55.84 C 242 Rice- Berseem- Cowpea (F) 4.35 CD 46.90 CD 246 Rice- Mustard-Sudan grass (F) 4.97 C 58.62 C 231 Rice- Mustard-Cowpea (F) 3.98 DE 39.80 D 222 Rice- Cabbage-Cowpea (F) 7.71 A 114.72 B 270 Banjara et al. (2021) BHU, Varanasi Table 4. Profitability, relative production efficiency and labor employment of different crop sequences 15

16. Cropping system Physico -chemical Biological pH SOC (g kg -1 ) Av. N (mg kg -1 ) Av. P (mg kg -1 ) Av. K (mg kg -1 ) SMBC (mg kg -1 ) SMBN (mg kg -1 ) Fallow-Rice-Rice 7.11 6.94 109.7 22.5 83.8 174.4 19.1 Jute-Rice-Wheat 7.13 6.57 108.5 18.9 88.1 173.8 20.3 Jute-Rice-Baby corn 7.16 6.48 103.8 16.4 99.3 171.3 20.5 Jute-Rice-Garden pea 7.11 7.37 111.4 25.1 101.6 180.8 22.0 Jute-Rice-Mustard-Mung bean 7.07 7.27 111.4 22.7 104.5 190.6 23.5 SEm ( + ) 0.06 0.23 6.10 2.18 5.26 2.77 0.66 LSD (P < 0.05) NS 0.55 NS 5.03 12.35 7.99 1.90 Table 5. Effect of different cropping systems on Physico -chemical and biological properties of soil Kumar et al. (2021) CRIJAF, Barrackpore 16

17. Cropping system: Wheat-Rice (W-R) Lentil-Rice (L–R) Potato- Greengram –Rice (P-Gg-R) Mustard-Rice (M–R) Wheat- Greengram - Pearlmillet (W-Gg-Pm ) Singh et al. (2020) IISR, Lucknow Fig 2. Microbial counts as affected by different cropping system 17

18. Production system: 2 (Low land, Upland) Cropping system: 1. Rice-Wheat 3. Maize-wheat 2. R-W- Mungbean 4. Maize-wheat- Mungbean Fig 3. Long-term effect of different cropping systems and nutrient management practices on particulate organic carbon (g kg –1 dry soil) in lowland and upland production systems Hazra et al. (2018) IIPR, Kanpur 18

19. Yadav et al. (2019) ICAR- complex for NE region, Tripura Fig 4. Effect of cowpea cover crop inclusion in rice-rapeseed cropping system on soil organic carbon pool 19

20. Ray et al. (2020) West Bengal R- LA- F= Rice-Lathyrus-Fallow R- LE- R= Rice Lentil-Rice R- P- F= Rice-Potato-Fallow R- R= Rice-Rice R-S= Rice-Sunflower R- P- PU= Rice-Potato-Pumpkin R- F- F= Rice-Fallow-fallow R- PG= Rice-Pointed gourd R- P- LF= Rice-Potato-Lady’s finger R- P- RG= Rice-Potato-Ridge gourd R- LE- F= Rice-Lentil-Fallow R- BG= Rice-Bitter gourd R- P- R= Rice-Potato-Rice Fig 5. Yield-scaled GHG emission of different rice-based cropping systems

21. Mr. Prabhat Das grow lentil var. HUL-57 after paddy followed by hybrid varieties of summer vegetables namely cucumber, ash gourd, pumpkin, and okra in 0.4 ha area. Now, Mr. Das has been earning Rs. 25,000/- per month after adopting the crop diversification At present her cropping pattern includes the cultivation of Guava with Red Pumpkin and Pomegranate with Drumstick. She also grows Onion, Grapes and Vegetables under shade net. By the inspiration from Dairy farming Training by ATMA, she purchased 4 cows and get monthly income Rs. 18,000/-. She is also earning Rs. 1.40 lakh from Drumstick (4 tonnes @Rs.35/kg) and Rs. 1.5 lakh from Red pumpkin (yield 15 tonnes). 22

22. Sustainable Development Goals 22

23. Putting all the things together…. Inclusion of pulses, oilseeds, and horticultural and forest crops in different cropping systems enhances system productivity and profitability leading to food, nutrition, and economic and ecological security. Inclusion of legumes in the cropping sequences is the best option to improve soil health and productivity. Diversified agricultural systems generate more employment throughout the year. 23

24. Identifying high-value crops and their climate resilient varieties and PoP for various agro climatic zones. Development and applications of tools and techniques for early detection and reduction of the losses occurring due to climate change . Development and implement of polices for crop diversification in major cropping zones like IGP with better Forword and backward linkage. 24 The way ahead

25. Patience hearing….