The 14th Samarjit Ray Lecture was organised by APMAS on 27th Feb 2024 wherein Dr. Devinder Sharma a celebrated Food and Trade Policy Analyst was the keynote speaker addressing the topic of the potential of Agroecology in protecting the environment while securing the interests of Indian farmers and consumers. In remembrance of the contributions to rural development of the late Samarjit Ray and its close connection to agricultural livelihoods, the lecture highlighted,
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the failure of free markets in addressing the livelihood concerns of the farming community which has led to a widening rural/urban economic and social divide stemming from an approach of surplus generation that has depressed prices of agricultural produce
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the depleted natural assets and chemical contamination of the food chain due to indiscriminate fertilizer led Intensive Agriculture
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A policy shift from nutritional security to protein availability that has impacted consumer preferences
The debate crucially emphasised the crossroads of agriculture globally, wherein Agroecology as an alternative must compete with Synthetic Food Factories; an approach which claims significantly reduced GHG emissions through artificial food production, albeit at the cost of rural farmer livelihoods world over. Agroecology on the other hand has demonstrated through Community Managed Natural Farming models, the regenerative and healing potential it possesses for long term sustainability, of the environment, the soil and water tables and ultimately farmer livelihoods, consumer health and quality of life. However, scaling of Agroecology in practice shall require a farmer centric package of policies to be implemented - namely remunerative price guarantees to adopting farmers and ecosystem services based pricing models.
In closing, Mr. Devinder Sharma addressing the audience, said that the future of Agroecology ultimately depends on end consumer taste and preferences and called for a mobilisation of food consumers across the country to demand organic produce in order to steer free markets and policy towards transitioning to a Sustainable Agroecological paradigm.