Several UN agencies including United Nations Asian and Pacific Center for Agricultural Engineering and Machinery are involved in promoting sustainable agriculture development for the eradication of poverty by guaranteeing environmental sustainability. Such agro-based environment-friendly technology is termed as Green Technology (GT). GT is that innovation which reduces waste by changing patterns of production and consumption. It is an environmental-healing technology, which reduces environmental damages created by the products and technologies developed for peoples’ conveniences. Most of the businesses may not be very excited to “go green” by reducing emissions since their motto is to make money and not to save the planet. The compromises should be to help businesses do both.
Development of the agriculture sector, defined in terms of increased production and decreased average cost, is a prerequisite for the overall development of an underdeveloped economy.
Unplanned and excessive use of earth’s resources has necessitated initiating GT for bringing innovation and changes in daily life by meeting the needs of present generation without damaging or depleting biodiversity for future generations. Such initiation requires explaining the link between applied technologies and their relationships with environment-friendly agriculture; poverty reduction; rural environmental concerns; rural income and gender dimensions.
The demand for cereals in the developing countries is expected to increase by 59 percent in the next 25 years but the growth rate in cereal yields has declined alarmingly. The major question today is to come up with technologies that will save the environment without sacrificing growth. The advances in solar, wind, bio-fuels and energy efficiency design has sped up development of technology-driven energy and cost efficiency mechanisms.
As yield increase has been an important source of growth, Food and Agricultural Organization estimates that over the next couple of decades, about 80 percent of the production expansion will be linked with yield increases and about 20 per cent with agricultural land expansion. This is one of the reasons why GT has been the priority area for future food security as its adoption has increased agricultural output without depleting presently available resources beyond the point of recovery. Some of the feasible technologies even in the less developed countries include solar photovoltaic, wind energy, bio-fuel, biogas, micro & small hydropower, biomass, solar thermal, improved water mill, geothermal energy, bio transgenic, organic farming, integrated pest management and agro forestry.
Waste water and sewage disposal has been a major threat to human health in Nepal. Liquid waste discharged by domestic residences and commercial properties can be minimized or recycled. Therefore, the adoption of available and affordable technology for renewable energy, including sunlight, wind, rain, and geothermal heat, which are naturally replenished, has to be our national priority sector for advanced research.
Data shows agricultural land has increased by 13 percent in the past 30 years at the expense of lowland forests and their rich biodiversity. With virtually no reserves of land with crop-production potential, Asian Development Bank estimate shows that land use per person will fall from 0.17 hectares in 1990 to 0.12 hectares in 2010. Therefore, the pressure from worldwide urbanization, manufacturing and population growth necessitates a renewed commitment to clean energy and environment solutions. The need is a balanced mix of alternative energies and the development of new technologies.
The skyrocketing costs of energy and agricultural inputs have reduced profitability, which has severely damaged the environment. This necessitates the proper assessment of the constraints and potentials of natural resources by examining policies of respective governments and appropriateness of agro-technologies. The development of biotechnology is therefore essential to properly assess socioeconomic, food security and environmental impacts for helping the poor rural communities for maintaining sustainable agriculture.
As a reference to environment-friendly technology, organic agriculture has been considered as the fastest growing field of the food sector. Therefore, organic agriculture has become a niche market since it forms 1 percent to 2 percent of the total food market share and demonstrates a popular case for organically-managed land practices. It is a welcome step that Herbo International Pvt. Ltd has been very successful in producing organic green tea (also natural herbal soap, herbo green tea and tea tree soap, herbo, green tea shampoo, herbo pain guard massage oil, etc.) in Nepal in a mass scale without using chemical fertilizers and pesticides. In the processing stage, the use of artificial color and flavor is avoided.
The revolution in Information Technology for precision farming has brought about major technological changes in agriculture. Although technologies such as biotechnology, genetic engineering, etc are available, the challenge is to determine the most suited and affordable technology by developing market mechanism for making applied technology competitive and sustainable.
Studies show every 1 percent increase in per capita agricultural output led to a 1.61 percent increase in the incomes of the poorest 20 percent of the population. On an average, every 1 percent increase in agricultural yields reduced the number of people living on less than US$1 a day by 0.83 percent. Hence, development of the agriculture sector, defined in terms of increased production and decreased average cost, is a prerequisite for the overall development of an underdeveloped economy.
In some countries, the government is encouraged to purchase products whose contents and methods of production have the smallest possible impact on the environment. In recent years, much more emphasis has been given in linking environmental factors with diversified development activities.
Traditionally, there has been a close link between agriculture, forest and livelihood of the Nepali poor. Developments in renewable energy sector of Nepal offer opportunities for amalgamation of rural (renewable) energy and agriculture sectors. The study of the possible correlation can, therefore, help us to come up with strategies for green and sustainable agriculture.
bishwambher@yahoo.com
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