Biodiversity and Economic Values
Though the main stream approach to calculate the economic value of farms looks at the productivity of single crops, there are several factors such as risk minimization, which are crucial aspect of a bio-diverse farm. Some of the traits of a bio-diverse farm contribute to self sufficiency in seed utilization, live-stock integration, energy use with animal power, various crop varieties grown as inter-crops, plant-based manures and pest control measures, and rich soil fauna & flora that make the soil fertile. For the same reasons, the benefit cost ratio is high in bio-diverse farms when compared to farms based on mono-culture cultivation.
Ecological Values
Many elements make up a farming system with high biodiversity. For example, biodiversity is increased further by introducing main crop, border crop, trees, inter-crop and animals. Biodiversity can be enhanced by trap crops such as mustard, sunflower, marigold, soyabean. Crops that promote predators like pulses for lady bird beetle, okra for lacewings, coriander, sorghum, maize for trichogramma, enhance biodiversity. Same way, trees encourage birds that will feed on boll worms, thereby increasing the diversity on farm.
Practices used to maintain and increase biological diversity on farms:
- Use of fallow lands to create habitats in all the cropping areas to encourage and increase the populations of predatory species like birds, spiders, dragonflies, mantids, frogs, shrews, wasps, etc., which have enabled us to keep a check on the pest populations. Once established, they contribute towards control of pests, and the damage through lepidopterans, borers, aphids, thrips, etc., is significantly minimized.
- Maintaining a forest canopy to conserve fragile top soil, replenishing it with compost, and incorporating uncultivated forested spaces within the cultivated areas. Structurally diverse vegetation buffers interspersed in the cropping areas provide trees, shrubs, herbs ground cover for a range of inhabitants which not only enrich the ecosystem through their diversity but also contribute towards filtering out pollutants.
- Recycling all forms of organic wastes generated on the farm through use of native bacterial and fungal cultures.
- Conserving weed populations through use. Weeds are invaluable in providing biomass which we require in abundance for composting, mulching and returning nutrients to the soils; and for creating native habitats for all the other supportive species which constitute an integral part of the rainforest ecosystem. Additionally, weeds also provide a source of plant-based preps which can be used for pest control when occasionally necessary, as well as home-use remedies for human and animal diseases.
- Multiple cropping in all areas with thick layers of mulch to continuously keep the soil moist and protected from drying and erosion.
- Preservation of riparian areas (stretches of land bordering rivers or streams) as buffer zones for minimizing impact of fragmentation. Natural vegetation like reeds and grasses along streams not only filters the water but also decreases erosion.
- Building of tanks to harvest and hold water within the fields helps in decentralizing irrigation activities, and encourages aquatic creatures to breed and establish themselves within the cropping areas.
- Terracing and bunding of hills help in preventing habitat loss through erosion, and minimize the negative impact of rain in heavy rainfall belts. Our hill slopes are all terraced with coffee, pepper, spice trees, amidst the native trees.
- Crop rotation, leaving crop residues to be mulched or ploughed back into the lands, alternative cycles of mowing, all help towards providing a continuity in food supply for the hidden and other inhabitants of the farm.
- Any land management technique that increases the use of organic farming towards building up local biodiversity and natural resources [2].
Cultural Values
Cultural values are often expressed in the form of symbols of biodiversity. Rituals in all parts of India are occasions for the use of many plants and animals. Among auspicious flowers are hibiscus, datura flowers, the leaves of Aegle marmoles Correa ex Roxb that are offered to Lord Shiva; special pieces of wood are also used in certain rituals and sacrificial rites. The list can be a long one differing from community to community. Combined with this are the sacred groves where specific plants and trees are protected from destruction. Food offering during festivals as well denotes the choice of some grains, vegetables and fruits. This makes it a point for conserving the diversity which is part of the cultural ethos. Culture is an often forgotten and neglected part of cropping practices. The use of nine grains ‘navadhanya’ to propitiate the nine planets is known across the country.
The hands-on experience of Green Foundation, a biodiversity conservation programme working with small and marginal farmers whose livelihood emanates from the use of diverse crops, flora & fauna for their sustenance rendered some valuable lessons of the quest for wholeness. Green Foundation’s experience in conservation of diversity has gone beyond the debate of “Can indigenous varieties/organic farming feed the growing population” by broadening the concept of food security for the small and marginalized who are the custodians of diversity. Similarly, organic farming is one such example where recognition of the subtle relationship between water, soil and the flora & fauna acknowledges the need to maintain these inter-dependencies in a holistic manner and in a sustainable way. Organic farmers breed varieties for quality, nutrition, resistance and yield, with practically no external input. Research has shown that these characteristics are more likely to be found in older native cultivars. In particular, open pollinated varieties and indigenous breeds offer diverse and regionally-adapted characteristics that are better suited to organic agriculture.
In the last decade, the adoption of organic agriculture has indirectly established a rescue process of species, varieties and breeds threatened by under-use or extinction. It is a well known fact that of the vast diversity in food crops, only rice, wheat and maize are now largely used as staple crops. Taking this observation further brings us to the question of the varietal diversity within the above-mentioned species that have been neglected due to the over-emphasis on breeding new lines for increased productivity.
