Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | GR Poses Threat to Bio-diversity: Dr Deb

GR Poses Threat to Bio-diversity: Dr Deb

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Apr 28, 2015   modified Modified on Apr 28, 2015
-The New Indian Express

KOCHI: Questioning the Green Revolution (GR) is like blasphemy in mainstream agricultural discourses. But, plant scientist-turned farmer Dr Debal Deb, an atheist by choice and seed conservationist by vocation, dares to question the very basics of the Green Revolution, and rips down the tall claims of its proponents.

Delivering a lecture on ‘A Journey Towards Ecotopia,’ at the Renewal Centre here on Saturday, Dr Deb held the Green Revolution (GR) responsible for destruction of the rich bio-diversity and extinction of rare ethnic seed varieties that were far better than the high-yielding seeds popularised by agricultural scientists. Claiming that the Green Revolution was a big lie, Dr Deb said statistics proved that the contribution of the high-yielding rice varieties introduced by the proponents of the GR had only a limited influence on increasing production.

“The area of irrigated land increased by more than 60 per cent between 1965 and 2010, and the area under cultivation expanded exponentially. Also, the farmers tried many crops every year, contributing to the increase in production. Meanwhile, the use of high-yielding crop varieties was limited to just 17 per cent of the total cultivated land,” Dr Deb said, refuting the claims of ‘high yield’ by modern rice breeds.

Calling rice research in India a sham, Dr Deb, who cultivates more than 1,120 ethnic rice varieties in his farm at Niyamgiri in Odisha, said that Indian research organisations had not come up with a stable rice variety, despite sixty years of research, that increased production in upland, rainfed lowland and coastal salinated farms. “At the same time, ethnic rice varieties that are tolerant to adverse conditions were deliberately ignored,” he added.

“We have 150 varieties of seeds in my farms that are tolerant to adverse conditions like draught, flood and salinity. Among the twenty rice varieties that are tolerant to flood, one rice variety grows up to 20 feet above flood waters,” said Dr Deb, who established the seed bank named ‘Vrihi’.

Dr Deb also questioned the claims that the GR resulted in self-sufficiency in rice production. “Surplus rice production comes at a big cost.  We imported seeds, pumps, fertilisers and pesticides from abroad. We have also begun to import mustard oil, among other things, which we used to export. It is like a ‘lassi’ (curd) vendor claiming self sufficiency. Of course, he makes the curd himself, but buys milk and sugar from the market,” Dr Deb added.


The New Indian Express, 26 April, 2015, http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/kochi/GR-Poses-Threat-to-Bio-diversity-Dr-Deb/2015/04/26/article2783534.ece


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close