The titanic tsunami and the gigantic earthquake in Ja­pan have come as a wakeup call to the inhabitants of planet earth. Recent natural calamities like the drought in China and Russia, floods in Australia, earthquake in New Zealand and a sudden rise in sea temperature near Bolivia, all remind us that if we continue to tamper with the web of life, humankind will have to face the threat of either a miserable life or extinction. The prices of major foodgrains are continuing to rise. Price of petroleum is also going up. Global food stocks are going down. Price volatility is an important factor conditioning food insecurity at the household level.

We need to learn several lessons from the Japanese experience in connection with nuclear power and disaster management.

My memory went back to 1989 when as the president of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), I had a discussion with Japanese scientists on the regeneration of mangroves along the coast in Japan. Some scientists belonging to the older generation mentioned the beneficial role played by mangroves to reduce the fury of coastal storms and tsunamis. We then decided to establish an International Society of Mangrove Ecosystems (ISME) in Okinawa, where once there were dense mangrove forests.

During the tsunami, which affected Tamil Nadu and other southern states on December 26, 2004, the coastal communities observed that dense mangrove forests served as a speed-breaker, reducing damage. We therefore, launched a programme both in India and Sri Lanka to plant mangrove and non-mangrove bio-shields along the coast.

The concern now about the safety of nuclear power plants, located along the coast such as Kalpakkam and Kudangulam in Tamil Nadu, makes me feel that in addition to other measures, we should promote bio-shields, comprising mangrove and non-mangrove species in the coastal areas adjoining nuclear power plants.

The Union budget for 2011-12 contains several va­luable initiatives such as farm loans at 4 per cent interest rate, direct lending to small and marginal farmers, payment of fertiliser and ker­osene subsidies directly to farmers and the improvement of agricultural productivity in eastern India. Ultimately, it is the cost-risk-return structure of farming that determines farmers’ enthusiasm for increasing productivity. The recommendation of the National Commission on Farmers that the minimum support price (MSP) should be fixed at C2 (that is, total cost of production) plus 50 per cent should be adopted as a general policy.

The global food scenario is a cause for concern and emphasises the need for strengthening the national food security system. Also, the legal right to food can be implemented only with homegrown food. The heartland of the green revolution, namely, Punjab, Ha­ryana and western Uttar Pr­adesh, is in a state of ecological distress, which will be further aggravated by an increase in the mean temperature as a result of climate change. Gro­und water quality and quantity are deteriorating. It is this region that is the mainstay for feeding the public distribution system (PDS). While we should defend the gains already made in this region through an integrated conservation-cum-climate resilient farming strategy, attention to the untapped production potential of Assam, West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, eastern Uttar Pra­desh and Chh­atisgarh will confer double benefits — alleviation of poverty and hunger, and strengthening of the PDS.

An important component of agricultural production strategy in this region should be the sustainable management of the Ganges and Brahmaputra wa­ter machines. Energy should be available for pumping water during rabi and boro seasons. The aquifer sho­uld be re­ch­arged during the kharif season. In the chronically flood-prone plains of Br­ahmaputra, the flood-free season, which is the winter mon­ths, should become the major cropping season.

The finance minister sho­uld be complemented for referring to bajra, jowar, ragi and other millets as nutri-cereals and not as coarse cereals as referred to in official documents. A diet consisting of ragi and moringa (drumstick) will provide all the needed micro and macro-nutrients. The production of nutri-cereals will, however, go up only if the MSP is implemented and if they are included in the PDS.

Another food item, which plays a role in food inflation, is milk. Over 75 per cent of the cost of milk is due to the cost of fodder and feed. Therefore, the Accelerated Fodder Development Programme is a welcome step. The government should, however, review its policy towards export of oil cakes and concentrates. If they are made available at affordable prices, the quantity and quality of milk will go up.

It is well known that while the onus of employment falls largely on the farm sector, the contribution of agriculture to GDP has fallen below 15 per cent, thereby leading to the increasing impoverishment of the peasantry. Humankind is at a crossroads. If we continue on the path of enlarging our ecological footprint, we will be doing a great harm to the generations yet to be born. Sustainable lifestyles and harmony with nature alone will help us to ensure sustainable human security and well-being.

(The writer is an agricultural scientist who led India’s green revolution)