Presented By Archana Kumari Agriculture Officer, Bank Of Baroda

Refers to the management of natural resources such

as land, water, soil, plants and animals, with a particular focus on how management affects the quality of life for

both present and future generations

Deals with managing the way in which people and natural landscape interact It brings together land use planning, water management, biodiversity conservation, and the future

sustainability of industries
like agriculture, mining, tourism, and forestry etc

It is a pattern of resource use, that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so

that these needs can be met not only in the present,

but also for generations to come

It ties together concern for the carrying capacity of natural system with the social challenges facing humanity

"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future

generations to meet their own needs. It contains within it two

key concepts:

the concept of 'needs', in particular the essential needs of the world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and

the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs."

Why is it needed? After Green Revolution during early 1960s Over-consumption/excessive or unnecessary use of resources for example over exploitation of ground water in states like Punjab, Haryana etc leading to depletion of ground water Soil erosion due to excessive flooding of fields or excessive tilling of land Depletion of soil nutrients by High yielding varieties Deforestation of land for practicing agriculture

All these activities lead to depletion of natural resources causing degradation of land, water air and loss of habitat of flora and fauna Leading of adverse effect like climatic changes at micro levels causing lesser rains and draught like conditions High use of Pesticides and inorganic fertilizers leading to deterioration of soil and other contamination of ground water

Soil Fertility Deterioration of soil texture Contamination of ground water by leeching of fertilizers Decreasing Biodiversity large scale plantation of same crop and varieties Increased level of toxic residues from the application of pesticides causing environmental and ecological hazards

To prevent further problems, incorporating Natural Resource Management is important Would also help in following sustainable practices thus allowing to conserve for future In order to achieve the above mentioned goals, following practices should be followed to prevent degradation of soil, water and preventing damage to flora and fauna

Erosion is one of the biggest problem in soil

Should not leave land baron to check soil erosion by

wind and water

Planting trees on wastelands along the field etc

helps preventing soil erosion.

Terrace farming slopes helps checking soil erosion Avoiding heavy tillage helps in soil texture conservation

Crop rotation with leguminous crops helps in

nitrogen fixation in the soil and thus increasing the soil nutrients Using green manure crops also brings down the inorganic fertilizer requirement

Using Bio-fertilizers also helps in nutrient buildup in

soil without showing any harmful effects Avoiding planting high yielding varieties in light soil to prevent rapid depletion of nutrients

Using modern irrigation techniques instead of traditional flood irrigation methods

Using sprinkler and drip irrigation system to enhance

the efficiency of the water applied to the crops

Harvesting rain water for recharging the ground

water and preventing from depletion

Construction of water shed to harvest rain water Avoiding excessive use of inorganic fertilizers and pesticides to prevent contamination of ground water

Fertilizer residue toxicity and pesticide toxicity are big problem Affects the ecological balance Application of the fertilizer should not be above prescribed quantity Indiscriminate spraying of pesticides also leads to toxicity in the surrounding Using neem based insecticides helps in lowering the toxicity

Destruction of forest land for agriculture also destroy habitats and interferes with the wildlife habitat Leads to conflicts between man and animals Care should be taken that natural habitat of the animals are not intruded into

Due to intensive farming and plantation of single crop on large areas we are loosing on the biodiversity of the flora. Biodiversity loss can lead to stagnation in breeding of new high performing varieties of the crops Important to conserve them in order to maintain wide genetic pool for the future requirements