JEB logo

Journal of Environmental Biology

pISSN: 0254-8704 ; eISSN: 2394-0379 ; CODEN: JEBIDP

About Journal
    Home
    Obituary: Dr. R. C. Dalela
    Editorial Board
    Reviewer Panel
    Publication Policies
    Guidelines for Editors
    Guidelines for Reviewers
    Abstracting and Indexing
    Subscription and Payments
    Contact Journal
    About Triveni Enterprises
 
Read Journal
    Current Issue
    Journal Archives
 
For Authors
    Guidelines for Authors
    Terms and Conditions
    Fees and Payments
    Track Paper Status
 

Google Search the Journal web-site:


    Abstract - Issue Mar 2021, 42 (2)                                     Back


nstantaneous and historical temperature effects on a-pinene

Advancing Innovations in Sustainable Agriculture

 

Editorial by Sanjay-Swami

School of Natural Resource Management, College of Post Graduate Studies in Agricultural Sciences, Central Agricultural University, Umiam-793 103, India

 

 

 

Abstract

Agriculture is sustainable when it nourishes people and restores and protects the land, air, water and other living creatures. It is sustainable when it mitigates and is resilient to climate change and provides livelihoods and dignity for farmers, workers and rural communities. Sustainable agriculture provides a potential solution to enable agricultural systems to feed a growing population while successfully operating within the changing environmental conditions.

    Demand of increase in food production to feed the rapidly growing global population has pose serious threat to the agricultural sustainability. Climate change also offers serious challenge to global food security situation as it will negatively affect agricultural yields, particularly in low income countries. The increased agricultural intensification to produce more food from the existing cropland has put the environmental sustainability at stake due to increased emissions, loss of biodiversity, soil health, water quality, increased use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Soils are home to more than 25 percent of the earth's total biodiversity and supports life on land and water, nutrient cycling and retention, food production, pollution remediation, and climate regulation. The evidence demonstrates that multiple sustainability goals can be simultaneously addressed when soil biota are put at the center of land management assessments; this is because the activity and interactions of soil organisms are intimately tied to multiple processes that ecosystems and society rely on.

    Water pollution from agriculture has direct negative impacts on human health; for example, the well-known blue-baby syndrome in which high level of nitrate in water can cause methaemoglobinemia – a potentially fatal illness – in infants. Pesticide accumulation in water and food chain, with demonstrated ill effects on humans, has led to widespread banning of certain broad-spectrum and persistent pesticides (such as DDT and many organophosphates), but such pesticides are still used in poor countries, causing chronic health problems. Aquatic ecosystems are also affected by agricultural pollution; for example, eutrophication due to the accumulation of nutrients in lakes and coastal waters has impacts on biodiversity and fisheries. Water-quality degradation may also have severe direct impacts on productive activities, including agriculture. During last few decades, over exploitation of natural resources has led to degradation and climate change. Presently land degradation in India is to the extent of 104.2 m ha which comprise 74.21 m ha due to soil erosion, 6.73 m ha due to soil salinity and 10.72 m ha due to soil acidity. About 32-84 percent of ground water used for irrigation is either saline or brackish. These all have affected crop productivity and, thus, their management is imperative for sustainability in agriculture. There is a need to develop a multidimensional approach for agriculture sustainability without damaging social, economic and environmental integrity.

    Climate change, a change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns for an extended period, is caused by natural factors such as variations in solar radiation, and human activities. Climate change is expected to affect the frequency, distribution, intensity, and location of extreme events, and thus will affect the sustainability of agriculture. The studies on climate change impacts and adaptation strategies are becoming major areas of scientific concern and the results of published research on climate change reveal a regional specificity that is difficult to be extrapolated on a global scale to predict the response of climate change across ecosystems. In recent years, more and more attention has been paid to the risks associated with climate change, which will increase uncertainty with respect to food production and environmental security. In this regard, management and adaptation strategies to mitigate the climate change effects are direly needed to ensure stable yields in the world and food security.

    As the world faces increased climate and environmental stresses and farmers continue to fight for economic viability, innovations and technological solutions that produce and distribute food sustainably are becoming important. New methods and interventions that enable farmers to meet the requirements of growing population, while also curtailing waste, optimizing the use of finite resources, reducing CO2 emissions and ensuring economic viability are critical to building a resilient and sustainable agriculture production system. However, there is no template or set of procedures easily embraced to assure a sustainable agricultural system. Success depends upon location, scale, types of production and the objectives of the farmer. However, it is the acute set of issues and the opportunities that can be captured by getting it right that has inspired so many to embrace sustainable agriculture. To this end, millions of practitioners, scientists and other interested parties are actively experimenting, collaborating and applying innovative approaches.

    This Issue of Journal of Environmental Biology (JEB) covers the comprehensive advancing innovations, latest trends and developments in agricultural and food systems sustainability under climate change scenario. The compilation of papers include various issues of global concern as well as different regions of the country.

    I would like to thank the authors who have contributed their valuable research works for publication in this issue and appreciate their efforts for patiently revising their papers to meet the suggestions of reviewers and responding to the requirement of the journal. I am very thankful to all the reviewers of this issue for critically evaluating the manuscripts and providing their valuable input for the technical improvement of each manuscript.

            I express my sincere gratitude to Dr. R.C. Dalela, the Editor-in-Chief of JEB for accepting the invitation for publication of these research papers. I also acknowledge the immense and tireless efforts of Dr. Wajid Hasan, Associate Editor & Entomologist, KVK, Jehanabad, Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bihar and Dr. Purnima Raizada, Associate Editor & Assistant Scientist, JEB, Lucknow, UP, India for critical review and editing of this issue. The co-operation of the Editorial Office of JEB right from the beginning to the final publication is highly appreciated.

 

  

Copyright © 2021 Triveni Enterprises. All rights reserved. No part of the Journal can be reproduced in any form without prior permission. Responsibility regarding the authenticity of the data, and the acceptability of the conclusions enforced or derived, rest completely with the author(s).