Towards an Era of Biodiversity in India

Paper:      GS-III,

Subject:   Environment, Ecology and Disaster Management,

Topic:      Bio-diversity and its conservation,

Issue:       Role of BESS in India’s Clean Energy Transition.

Context:

Emerging biodiversity science must address the sustainable use of biodiversity and natural resources, ensure food and nutrition security, and reduce climate change and disaster risks.

Key Highlights:

Importance of Agro-biodiversity:

• Dietary diversity: Arunachal Pradesh and rural India showcase rich dietary diversity through forest and field crops like millets, legumes, tubers, leafy vegetables, etc.
• Indigenous knowledge: Tribal communities like Nyishi and Apatani possess deep knowledge of medicinal and nutritional values of local plants.
• Safeguarding biodiversity: Rapid disappearance of agro-biodiversity in Northeast India mirrors global biodiversity loss.
• Medicinal knowledge: Crucial for culinary and medicinal knowledge of tribal communities as it is vanishing.

India’s Biodiversity Significance:

• Bio-diversity hub: India has 2% of global land but harbours ~8% of global biodiversity.
• Biodiversity hotspots: One of 17 megadiverse countries and home to 4 of 36 global biodiversity hotspots.
• Ecosystem services: Indian forests provide ecosystem services valued at over ₹130 trillion annually.
• Growth and development: Biodiversity contributes to GDP and sustainable development though it remains underutilized.

Challenges to Food Systems:

• Monocropping system: Global food production is dominated by three crops: rice, wheat, and maize.
• Deficiencies and vulnerabilities: This leads to nutritional deficiencies and environmental vulnerabilities. Despite high productivity, technological gains have not translated into equitable nutrition distribution.
• Diseases:Non-communicable diseases (diabetes, obesity) are rising due to poor dietary diversity.
• Neglected and Underutilized Species (NUS): Local crops like millets, buckwheat, jackfruit, amaranth, yams, and indigenous legumes are undervalued.

Community and Cultural Linkages:

• Role of Kolli’s: Communities like Kolli Hills (Tamil Nadu) traditionally grew local millets.
• Millet diversity: M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) has worked for 20+ years to revive millet diversity.
• Women empowerment: Empowering women farmers, improving yield, documenting traditional knowledge.

Recent policy measures:

• Millet mission: Odisha’s Millet Mission is a successful example of community-led nutrition initiatives.
• Expansion of PDS: Expansion of State Millet Missions needed to include diverse millets in the Public Distribution System (PDS).
• Balancing ecology and nutrition: Future of food must balance ecological sustainability and nutrition security.

 Conclusion:  

India can be a global leader in conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. For it. aligning traditional knowledge with modern science is key. Promoting forgotten foods is crucial for the health of people and the planet.

https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/aiming-for-an-era-of-biohappiness-in-india/article69657847.ece

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