“Ecological Farming: The Path to a Sustainable Future”
From the beginning of the Earth, nature has been flowing in its own rhythm. Humans have gathered knowledge from nature to meet their needs and are now roaming at the pinnacle of civilization. About twenty thousand years ago, the journey of primitive agriculture started with the hands of women, and it was entirely forest-based. Since there was no lack of anything in this forest-dependent agriculture, it was stable and prosperous. Over time, due to the increasing population growth worldwide, natural agriculture has been gradually pushed towards destruction. As a result, agriculture has lost its stability, and we are on the verge of losing the provision of safe food. Therefore, to rebuild the forest, integrating the various components of the environment such as soil, water, light, air, hills, rivers, seas, animals, birds, insects, and biodiversity with the living world and plants is a major challenge for us.
Due to the use of excessive chemical fertilizers, pesticides, chemical crop and fruit growth hormones, and hybrid seeds to meet the increasing food demand of the growing global population, food production has temporarily increased like magic. However, this has become a significant threat to the environment, soil, and public health.
Indiscriminately damaging the environment and ecosystem through such destructive production processes can never be sustainable. The way food is being produced using chemical toxins, a large amount of poison is entering our bodies with the food we consume every day, and the soil and environment are being severely contaminated. About 40% of the greenhouse gases emitted from agriculture come from chemical fertilizers. Notably, in 2018, the global use of NPK (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium) fertilizers was 188 million metric tons, with nitrogen fertilizers alone accounting for nearly 104 million metric tons. However, if leguminous crops are cultivated, an additional 30-60 kg of nitrogen per acre is added annually. Due to these chemical fertilizers and toxins, excessive arsenic has been found in various foods, and even in mothers’ milk, excessive chemical toxins have been detected. Therefore, to save the planet, agricultural and environmental production should follow the natural ecosystem. This would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ensure a safe and sustainable food production system by protecting the ecosystem. After the Second World War and subsequently, “food security” was a major concern for people at all levels. However, now the major concern is no longer food security but “safe food” because the availability of safe food is gradually shrinking. If we do not expand the range of safe food now, we will face a crisis in the near future. Renowned economist Dr. Amartya Sen, through his research on 50 major famines worldwide, has shown that famines have never occurred in any country due to a shortage of food production. Instead, such situations can arise if food distribution becomes excessively unequal and discriminatory. Therefore, everyone should focus on ecological farming to adopt a sustainable food system for all by using nature very carefully. Ecological farming is the ultimate form of all-natural farming. Considering the current state of our land, ecological farming should initially begin organically and be transformed into ecological farming over a targeted period.
