Class 11th & 12th Agriculture Capital

Who is the first Indian woman to receive a Borlaug award, and in which year? The first Indian woman to receive the Borlaug Award was Dr. Amrita Patel.23 Aug 2023

🔊 ICAR PG ,JRF & SRF ( PhD ) 2024 📌 Form Filling ⏩ Today Last Date

What is carbon farming? What are some techniques within carbon farming which can reduce greenhouse gas emissions? What are the challenges in implementing such techniques, ○especially in developing countries such as India? What are some of the global initiatives? Carbon is found in all living organisms and many minerals. It is fundamental to life on earth and plays a crucial role in various processes, including photosynthesis, respiration, and the carbon cycle. Farming is the practice of cultivating land, raising crops, and/or livestock for food, bre, fuel, or other resources. It encompasses a wide range of activities, from planting and harvesting crops to managing livestock and maintaining agricultural infrastructure. Carbon farming combines these two concepts by implementing regenerative agricultural practices that restore ecosystem health while improving agricultural productivity and soil health, and mitigating climate change by enhancing carbon storage in agricultural landscapes and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The practice is easy to adopt across various agro-climatic zones. It can also help ameliorate soil degradation, water scarcity, and challenges related to climate variability. How can carbon farming help? A simple implementation of carbon farming is rotational grazing. Others include agroforestry, conservation agriculture, integrated nutrient management, agro-ecology, livestock management, and land restoration. Agroforestry practices — including silvopasture and alley cropping — can further diversify farm income by sequestering carbon in trees and shrubs. Conservation agriculture techniques such as zero tillage, crop rotation, cover cropping, and crop residue management (stubble retention and composting) can help minimise soil disturbance and enhance organic content, particularly in places with other intense agricultural activities. Integrated nutrient management practices promote soil fertility and reduce emissions by using organic fertilizers and compost. Agro-ecological approaches such as crop diversication and intercropping have benets for ecosystem resilience. Livestock management strategies including rotational grazing, optimising feed quality, and managing animal waste can reduce methane emissions and increase the amount of carbon stored away in pasture lands. What are the challenges to carbon farming? While carbon farming does oer numerous benets, its eectiveness varies depending on multiple factors — geographical location, soil type, crop selection, water availability, biodiversity, and farm size and scale. Its usefulness also depends on land management practices, sucient policy support, and community engagement. Regions with long growing seasons, sucient rainfall, and substantial irrigation are best suited to practise carbon farming because they provide the best conditions in which to sequester carbon, through vegetation growth. In regions with adequate rainfall and fertile soil, the potential for carbon sequestration through practices like agroforestry (integrating trees and shrubs with crops) and conservation agriculture (minimising soil disturbance) may be particularly high. On the other hand, carbon farming can be challenging in hot and dry areas where the availability of water is limited, and prioritised for drinking and washing needs. Limited water availability can hinder the growth of plants, thus restricting the potential for sequestration through photosynthesis. For example, practices like cover cropping, which require additional vegetation between main crop cycles, may not be viable due to the added water demand. Moreover, selecting which plants to grow also becomes crucial because not all species

while improving soil health, enhancing biodiversity, and creating economic opportunities for its adopters. Vinaya Kumar H.M. is an assistant professor of the Agricultural Extension, Oce of the Vice Chancellor, Keladi Shivappa Nayaka University of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences