Caring for Mother Earth – Opinion News

By Ashok Gulati and Suvangi Rath

The International Mother Earth Day was celebrated on April 22. It was proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations through a resolution in 2009, although its roots lie in 1970s. The main objective of the occasion is to have harmony with nature and ensure sustainable development of humanity. The Earth remains the only known planet to host life. There is no “planet B” for humanity so far, although Elon Musk has ambitions to occupy Mars. The specific conditions and complex biosphere that sustain us are unique to Earth, making it irreplaceable for human survival. So, it is everyone’s duty to ensure that in the race for economic development, we take care of Mother Earth’s basic resources, be it air, soil, water, or biodiversity. But have we done so? The answer, unfortunately, is no. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “The earth, the air, the land, and water are not an inheritance from our forefathers but on loan from our children. So, we have to hand over to them at least as it was handed over to us.”

Some major changes in natural resources were inevitable as humans multiplied on this planet over the last two centuries. While it took homo sapiens almost 300,000 years to hit the 1-billion mark in 1804, we added the next billion in 123 years. And between 1927 and 2025, we have multiplied by more than four times to cross 8 billion. India is the most populous country today and is likely to remain so till the end of this century. This exponential growth of humans in the last century has put unprecedented pressure on the planet to produce more food, housing, clothing, and other needs. The use of fossil fuels for energy and faster travel has been one of the major factors behind global warming and the deteriorating air quality of the planet.

India is not in very good shape on this count. The Environment Pollution Index 2024, as estimated by Yale University for 180 countries, placed India at the 176th rank. The World Air Quality Report 2024 released by the Swiss organisation IQAir noted that of the 100 most polluted cities and towns globally, 74 are in India. Another report by the Chicago School said that people living in Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) are cutting short their life expectancy by 11.9 years due to air pollution. The Indian government may reject these findings, but the facts will not change much. It is an emergency and we know how the NCR becomes a gas chamber in November-December every year. Drastic steps are needed to restore the health of our planet.

Although it is the most critical for human survival, air is only one of the key elements of this planet. Soil, water, and biodiversity are other key elements that need to be protected for sustainable development, and they are fundamental for feeding humanity. Despite the rapid rise in population, humans have been able to produce more food for everyone by using science in the form of improved seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, irrigation, farm machinery, etc. India’s green revolution has saved millions of lives. But in the process to produce more food for the growing population, we have damaged our soils, water sources, and depleted our biodiversity. Almost two-thirds of India’s soils, for example, have soil organic carbon of less than 0.5%, while optimally it should be at least three-four times higher (1.5-2%; according to Rattan Lal, World Food laureate). Groundwater in certain pockets like Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan has been depleting at more than 1.5 feet every year since the last two decades or more, and is getting contaminated with the increasing use of fertilisers and pesticides. The rice-wheat crop rotation in the Punjab-Haryana belt has dramatically reduced biodiversity. All this points to the unsustainable nature of our production system. How can one change this for the better?

Policies, practices, and products have to play an important role. Innovative policies of payment for ecosystem services (PES) need to be introduced. Farming practices and products that align with nature need to be rewarded, such as saving soils and precious water as well as promoting biodiversity. Productivity growth is important, but so is nature’s basic resource endowment. Dovetailing growth with sustainability is a challenge, but it can be achieved if we remain focused on achieving these twin objectives. Between 2000-01 and 2024-25, India has done pretty well in overall growth of GDP at 6.3% per annum, and agriculture and allied sector’s GDP growth has been 3.5% per annum. This has helped India reduce poverty and feed its population, and yet remain a net exporter of agri-produce. But policies like free power and highly subsidised fertilisers, especially urea, coupled with open-ended procurement of paddy and wheat in places like Punjab and Haryana are causing havoc for critical agri-ecosystem services. These subsidies need to be repurposed and given directly to farmers’ accounts, so that the prices of power and fertilisers can be de-regulated. It will help save leakages and protect the environment. Legumes such as pulses and oilseeds can be encouraged through the PES to be brought back into the cropping system. They are more nutritious and can foster better agri-ecosystem services as they fix nitrogen levels in the soil, save groundwater, and improve air quality and biodiversity.

This year’s theme of Earth Day was renewable energy, specifically augmenting it 300% by 2030. If farmers can be incentivised for adopting agrivoltaics as a third crop, it can help produce cleaner energy to conserve ecosystem services as well augment farmers’ incomes. It is feasible if the discoms purchase power from farmers at a price that gives 10-15% premium over the cost of generating thermal power. Then, a revolution of clean energy on farmers’ fields can be actualised. We hope it can be done to protect Mother Earth and our farmers.

The writers are respectively distinguished professor and fellow, ICRIER.

Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal and do not reflect the official position or policy of FinancialExpress.com. Reproducing this content without permission is prohibited.

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